54 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Owing to the thick cover we only got a glimpse of the old 

 bird as she rose, and two youngsters, which shortly after- 

 wards crept away from under the bushes, were apparently 

 left to take care of themselves. 



The fact that I had now seen two Woodcocks that had 

 left the full complement of four young behind act nevertheless 

 in the same way as the Saltoun bird, convinced me that she 

 too was merely endeavouring to draw me away from her 

 little ones. When young are carried it is probably a much 

 more deliberate act, not to be expected of a bird suddenly 

 flushed from her brood. 



In his " Rough Notes " Booth gives a most interesting 

 account of his observations when endeavouring to ascertain 

 how the juvenile is carried, which is well worthy of perusal. 

 The following quotation will suffice to show that he not only 

 failed to discover how the young were carried, but even to 

 make certain that they were carried at all : 



" In the wooded ravine on the hill of Tarlogie, near Tain, a 

 woodcock (as far as I was able to judge) was twice seen in the act 

 of conveying its young. The following extracts from my notes of 

 June i86g may afford some explanation as to the difficulty of 

 ascertaining accurately the manner in which the young one is 

 carried, or (as some observers are inclined to believe) whether the 

 whole idea does not arise from misapprehension caused by the 

 excited actions of the bird while endeavouring to draw the attention 

 of intruders from the brood." 



For recent evidence that the young are occasionally 

 carried, reference should be made to the Irish Naturalist 

 of 1899 and 191 3, and Mr Sword's paper read to the Stirling 

 Natural History Society in 191 2. 



Whooper Swans at Duddingston Locli. On the forenoon 

 of 19th January 1919 a flock of thirteen wild swans Cygiius niusicus 

 calling loudly, came up from the Firth to the loch ; they flew low 

 down over the water, but as it was ice-bound they rose again and 

 made for the sea : they were all adult birds. This is the first time 

 I have seen the Whooper at the loch. William Sekle, M.B.O.U. 



