REPORT ON SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGY IN I918 109 



country. As this has already been dealt with fully in our 191 7 

 Report, and in notes in the Scot. Nat, 191 8, pp. 93 and 239, 

 it is unnecessary to do more than allude to it here. In 

 January 1918 there was a severe storm of frost and snow 

 which told heavily on the birds. On 19th January Mr 

 Oscfood Mackenzie writes from West Ross : " We are in the 

 midst of a terrible snowstorm, and the poor birds (which 

 were scarce before it came) will be scarcer after it goes. 

 The {ew Woodcock can hardly flutter and the Blackbirds 

 and Thrushes are few and far between, and the Sparrow- 

 hawks are rapidly thinning them down. I have only seen 

 one Snipe during all this hard weather." On the same day 

 we have a note that the Blackbirds here (Largo) are getting 

 very weak and hardly able to fly, owing to frost, and at 

 the same time many Skylarks, Blackbirds, Redwings, and 

 Thrushes are reported to have died from cold at Little Ross. 

 An interesting article appeared in The Gamekeeper for 

 February 191 8, in which the writer chronicles the birds he 

 had observed dead between 6th and 19th January ; it may be 

 well to quote this list as showing the variety of species 

 affected by the storm. The writer found 16 Red Grouse, 2 

 Blackgame, 11 Partridges, 7 Woodpigeons, 49 Blackbirds, 

 7 Thrushes, i Wren, 6 Robins, 14 Chaffinches, 11 Green- 

 finches, 7 Hedge-accentors, 2 Redwings (the small number of 

 Redwings is interesting showing the scarcity of these birds 

 this season), and 2 Pied Wagtails ; along the shore he picked 

 up 1 1 Guillemots, 5 Razorbills, 2 Little Auks, 2 Golden 

 Plover, 2 Green Plover, i Pink-footed Goose, and i female 

 Scaup verily a goodly bag ! In addition to these 

 casualties from the storm the writer describes the number of 

 Geese and Ducks seen in the Firth of Forth, and mentions 

 the large bags obtained by various sportsmen during this 

 time ; these comprised many Wader, especially Golden 

 Plover. At Lerwick on the 21st, many House-sparrows and 

 Starlings were found " frozen to death in intense frost." 

 Except for the above notes there was nothing in the period 

 under review worthy of mention here. 



The winter of 1918-19 was not in any way remarkable; 

 most of the usual winter visitors were present in normal 



