The Scottish Naturalist. 293 



every field contains a flock. Although it is a very poor 

 songster, it is a very amusing pet, if properly attended 

 to. 



51. Hawfinch, Bar a avis. 



52. House Sparrow. Extremely abundant. Ever present 



in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. This year 

 (1888) one that is breeding in an outhouse at my place 

 has a white tail. Often mottled varieties may be seen 

 on the public streets and in the rural parts. There is a 

 white specimen in the Arbroath Museum got in this 

 neighbourhood. It is a young bird of this season. In 

 December, 1886, I had one of uniform brownish-black 

 colour. 



53. Tree Sparrow. I have found it breeding at Arbirlot ; 



and a friend mentions that he suspects it nests even 

 nearer Arbroath. 



54. Chaffinch. Met with on all our roadways. Breeds in hedges 



and trees, and is very fond of bushes in gardens, whereon 

 to erect its marvellous nest. 



55. Brambling. A winter migrant and rather scarce. 



56. Linnet. Generally distributed. It used to breed ex- 



tensively in the whins upon the moors and roadsides ; 

 but the advancement of agriculture has to a great extent 

 cleared the country of the yellow blossoms, and the 

 linnet may now be found nesting in the gardens in close 

 proximity to the sparrow and the chaffinch. A linnet 

 chorus in autumn is one of the pleasures of the year. 

 57- Mealy Redpole. I have seen these caught at farmstead- 

 ings in winter. 



58. Lesser Redpole. Flocks of linnets contain a few examples 



of this bird sometimes. 



59. Twite. Breeds in the locality. Nests on the clifts east of 



the town. It is valued as a cage-bird. 



60. Bullfinch. One of our prettiest birds. I have heard of 



a gardener within my frontier who boasted of poisoning 

 eight dozen of those birds in one week ! 



61. Common Crossbill. Said to have been found here. 



62. Black-Headed Bunting. A local resident, but very re- 



stricted in its distribution. On 13th April, 1888, one 

 was shot at Mayfield and another was observed. 



