72 Mr. A. Hepburn on some of the Mammalia and Birds 



Lothian, viz. the Bass Rock and the islet of Federa ; a pair of 

 young birds formerly sold for two guineas, but now they can be 

 purchased for five or ten shillings. The kestrel and sparrow- 

 hawk were the only other birds of prey seen about the cliffs : 

 the white- rumped swallow [Hirundo urbica) builds on the cliffs, 

 as I have noticed elsewhere. 



A solitary pair of ravens (Corvus corax), on Weston Thirl cliff, 

 is the only representative of a once numerous and daring band of 

 plunderers. Many years ago their depredations on the young 

 lambs were so serious as to render their destruction a matter of 

 great importance to the flock-masters -, these birds used to watch 

 for the birth of a lamb, and before the mother was able to attend 

 to its safety, its eyes and tongue were pecked out, the umbilical 

 cord was rudely seized, the intestines were thus uncoiled and 

 dragged forth, and the little sufferer soon dropt to rise no more : 

 such misdeeds have been attributed to the carrion crow {Corvus 

 corona) by at least two authors*. The misdeeds of the ravens 

 called down persecution : they were shot and trapped at all hands, 

 and bold young men were lowered down the face of the cliffs by 

 means of ropes to destroy their nests. It is curious to note the 

 habits of birds in different districts : in the Hebrides, the raven 

 feasts only on carrion ; and " the shepherds and farmers, so far 

 from molesting the ravens, are pleased when a pair of them breed 

 on their ground, because they help to keep off the eagles f-^^ Two 

 or three pairs of ravens haunt the rocky islets off North Berwick. 



Jackdaws (C monedula) are very common about the cliffs, and 

 along with the grey-backed crow [C. comix) y feed largely upon 

 eggs j of the latter only two or three pairs frequent the cliffs ; 

 they may be seen about the upper waters of the Whitadder in 

 summer ; they are sparingly distributed along the shores of the 

 Firth of Forth during the same season, but are common in 

 winter : there are some old people who aver that these birds were 

 once far more abundant in these parts than the carrion crow 

 [C. corone). The interesting chough or red-legged crow {Pyr- 

 rhocorax graculus) is now extinct, except a solitary pair, which 

 I was informed seldom strayed far from Fast Castle, a few miles 

 to the eastward of the Head. 



The rock pipit (Anthus aquaticus, Bechst.) is common on 

 the less abrupt precipices. The rock pigeon {Columba livia) is 

 asserted to breed on this coast, their chief resorts being rocky 

 caverns in East Harker^s Cliff, and the coves of Harlaw and 

 Pennywick ; but in truth, they are only domestic pigeons which 

 have become wild, and such as are to be met with in several 



* MacGillivray in his Hist, of Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 521, and Hogg in 

 ' Zoologist,' vol. i. p. 304. 

 t MacGillivray's Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 508. 



