308 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Iii my First Report I relate the occurrence of a Rook remaining 

 buried a long time under the snow without food. I heard, in 

 June, 1880, in Aberdeenshire, that a similar thing happened at a 

 farm on Donside to a common domestic fowl, which was stated 

 to have been six weeks under the snow in the winter of 1879-80. 



Tn July, 1880, writing to me regarding the carnivorous propen- 

 sities of the Rook, developed by the unusual severity of the winter 

 of 1878-79, Mr. Robt. Warren says — " An old friend of mine told 

 me that he saw two (Rooks) attack a Woodcock under a bush 

 close to his sitting room window, and before he could get out to 

 rescue it, they had it killed and torn. Another acquaintance told 

 me that two Rooks attacked a weakly companion, and killed and 

 ate it in a short time." 



STARLING. 

 Sturnus vulgaris, Lin. 



Starlings appeared in Oct. and Nov. in undiminished flocks 

 in the Vale of Menteith and Carse of Falkirk. I observed them 

 numerous also in Oct., near Grigadale Farm, not far from the 

 lighthouse at Ardnamurchan Point. They were still present in 

 the carse-lands of Stirlingshire on 10th Dec, 1879, and a few still 

 seen further inland up to the 23rd Dec. During the hard frost 

 they temporarily migrated to the lower carses in large numbers, 

 but returned immediatelv after the frost "lifted." 



In Stirlingshire and elsewhere, the breeding season of 1880 was 

 early, and the young were in flocks early in June. An unusual 

 scarcity of Starlings in Berwickshire is noted by Mr. Hardy, two 

 well-frequented spots in former years being this year deserted. 

 On the coast of St. Abbs Head, in June, I observed a good many 

 among the cliffs. Mr. R. Warren, as already noted (antea, p. 300), 

 states that Starlings seem to suffer " most from cold of any of our 

 birds of similar size and strength." May not their disappearance 

 from certain localities be partly, if not wholly, owing to scarcity 

 of some particular food from the unusually dry season of 1880? 

 With Starlings, as with other species, it proved an early breeding 

 season in most Scottish districts, and they were noticed to go in 

 flocks much earlier than usual. 



REDPOLE. 



LlNOTA LINAEIA (TAn.j. 



In my First Report I alluded to the fact, as related by Mr. R. 

 Service, that the nests of Redpoles around Dumfries in the spring 



