72 Miscellaneous. 



some seasons however they catch them in much greater numbers than 

 in others ; and although it is one of our winter visitors, still some of 

 them undoubtedly remain to breed, of which indeed several instances 

 have been recorded ; and I have myself seen a specimen of the bird 

 which was shot in this neighbourhood in the end of the month of 

 April. 



5. I am indebted to my young friend Mr. "W. Dumbreck for being 

 able to exhibit to the Society a Scottish specimen of a very rare bird, 

 the Black-winged Stilt, or Long-legged Plover {Himantopus 

 melanopterus, Tem.). It is one of the accidental visitors to Britain 

 which are met with now and then at very uncertain intervals, and of 

 which only some two or three instances are recorded of its occurrence 

 in Scotland. This I hope will be a sufficient apology for exhibiting it ; 

 although it was killed a good many years ago, and no notice has ever 

 been given of its capture. It was shot in the breeding season on the 

 south bank of the river Clyde, nearly opposite to Dumbarton Castle, 

 and when seen was squatting on the ground, so that it was at first 

 supposed to be merely a young Lapwing, or some such bird. It is 

 easily distinguished hy its extremely long stilt-like legs, with three 

 toes in front and none behind ; and it appears to be a young bird ; 

 the back part of the head and neck being dusky, the scapulars 

 brownish black, the rest of the wing greenish black ; and the length 

 of the primaries from the carpal joint to their extremity being only 

 b\ inches, instead of 8 inches as in the adult, in which they extend 

 considerably beyond the tail ; whereas in this specimen they do not 

 reach to within 1^ inch or so of its extremity. The tail is ash- 

 coloured, and the rest of the body is white. It measures about 13 

 inches in length, and from the termination of the feathered part of 

 the tibia to the foot it is 7i inches long. 



Q k 7. I am also informed that the person who shot this bird was 

 fortunate enough when a young man to capture other two of our 

 rarer birds, which may be worth a passing notice ; the one is the 

 Wryneck {Yunx torquillai Linn.), of which an individual was killed 

 in the neighbourhood of Glasgow ; and the other (which I have seen) 

 is the Rose-coloured Pastor {Pastor roseus), which was shot in 

 a garden near Caldwell, Renfrewshire. 



I allude to these birds, as I am anxious to impress upon the Mem- 

 bers of the Society the propriety of recording all the instances of the 

 occurrence of any of our rarer birds which may happen to come to 

 their knowledge ; as it is only in this way that anything like a cor- 

 rect idea of the ornithology of a particular district, or of our country 

 itself, is to be obtained. 



8. Through the politeness of Mr. Dickson, of the well-known firm 

 of John Dickson and Co., Gunmakers, Princes Street, I am enabled 

 to show this beautiful specimen of the very rare Great-Billed or 

 Surf Scoter (Oidemia perspicillata, Flem.). It is a fine adult 

 male, and was shot in Musselburgh Bay on Friday last the 2nd of 

 April. The Scoters are true sea ducks, seeking among the waves 

 and surf for their varied molluscous diet. Three species are described 

 as being found occasionally on our coasts during the winter months ; 



