The Scottish Naturalist, t^-^t^ 



were shot on the Tweed in this neighbourhood, I may mention an additional 

 recent example, — a female which was shot on Sept. 25, 1876, by Mr J. Kerss, 

 on the Tweed, about two miles below Kelso, and which is now in Mr A. 

 Steel's collection (' Proc. Berw. Nat. Club,' viii. 182). This seems to be 

 considered one of the "unauthenticated instances," as it was recorded in the 

 same publication which is quoted, but inaccurately, for the incorrect records 

 of the Golden Eagle. 



Under "Goshawk" we have "Berwickshire, Jan. 1876," and under 

 " Marsh Harrier," " Tweedside, Oct, 1875." Are these not also errors? If 

 not, I should be obliged for the localities. — Andw. Brotherston, Kelso. 



Notice of tlie "Wryneck (Yunx torquilla) being found in Pertlisliire. — 



Mr Thomas Marshall, of Stanley, in a letter to me, mentions the capture of 

 the Wryneck at Stanley on the 6th inst. The bird was brought to him by a 

 lad, who found it on the bank of the Caledonian Railway. It was alive at 

 the time, but could not fly, being apparently injured by a shot- wound,' there 

 being a small hole in the back. Having Jong been of opinion that the Wry- 

 neck was an inhabitant of the woods on the banks of the Tay, about Bal- 

 lathy, not very far from Stanley, its capture there is to me highly interesting ; 

 for while fishing in that neighbourhood some years ago, and for several seasons 

 in succession, I repeatedly, in the spring months, heard its unmistakable tee, 

 tee, tee, in more directions than one, proceeding from the boles of some of the 

 old standard oak-trees in the recently- cut coppice- woods near the banks of 

 the river ; but not having had the good fortune of catching a sight of the bird, 

 I never felt justified in giving it a place in the list of our summer visitants, 

 notwithstanding that the call-note was so well known to me, that I could 

 hardly be mistaken in its identity. Now, however, I think it may safely be 

 included in the fauna of Perthshire as a regular, though perhaps only a local, 

 visitant to the county. If memory serves me right, I have heard the same 

 call-note in the Fascally woods in Athole, — a note so well known to the 

 country people in Middlesex and other southern counties of England, that 

 the bird, which is there common, goes by the name of Cuckoo's-mate, being 

 considered like that bird a harbinger of summer, and is accordingly every- 

 where welcomed. The Wryneck, though common in the southern counties, 

 like the Nightingale, seems partial in its visits, restricting itself more par- 

 ticularly to the eastern counties, rarely ever being seen in Cornwall and the 

 west, and never in Ireland. It is rare in the north, and perhaps Perthshii-e 

 may be considered its extreme breeding limits. It has been once or twice 

 noticed in Orkney and Shetland ; but these may only be taken as casual cases, 

 probably Continental birds driven out of their line of passage. — H. M. Drum- 

 MOND Hay, Seggieden, Sept. 12, 1878. 



