REPORT ON SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGY FOR 1907 197 



Cypselus apus (Swift). — First reports Lagg (Arran) 6th May; 

 Kirkliston and Peebles 7th; Forfar loth, and numerous there 

 12th, on which date it is reported from North Berwick and 

 Hogganfield (Glasgow). On 14th some were seen at Largo 

 going into a nesting hole under the tiles of a house. At time 

 of and after arrival of Swifts at Pentland Skerries a cold east 

 wind prevailed, and during this period some were seen to drop 

 down benumbed. Local birds left Kirkliston nth August, in 

 passage there almost daily i8th August till 7th September. On 

 22nd August a very large gathering observed at Otterston 

 (Fife), (Evans). On 8th, 19th, 20th, numerous in Arbroath 

 and Forfar. Last occurrences single birds at Skerryvore, 19th, 

 and Fairlie (Ayr) 22nd September. 



'Caprimulgus europ.eus (Nightjar). — Two eggs in the last week of May 

 in Mull, "earliest here." One dead at Lerwick, 20th October. 



Dendrocopus major (Great Spotted Woodpecker). — Reports from 

 Perth, Stirling, Argyll (A.S.N.H., 1907, pp. 182 and 247) 

 regarding the nesting of this species. The reference {I.e. p. 

 182) to the circular holes in the Wellingtonia stems believed 

 to be the work of this species has caused me to refer to my 

 notes of a visit to Glendoune, Girvan, on 22nd April 1905, to 

 call on Mr. Symon the gardener there. Here I find it stated 

 that " The Tree-creeper, Mr. John Symon pointed out to me, has 

 found the dry spongy bark of the Wellingtonia useful, presum- 

 ably for nest building, and I found many — say 9- 10 — places in 

 the trunks where the birds had hollowed out spaces, some as 

 neatly rounded as if a body like a hen's egg had been half- 

 pressed into the soft bark." May this not explain the Loch 

 Awe and Loch Fyne Wellingtonia holes ? 



Alcedo ispida (Kingfisher). — Three pairs on a public part of the 

 river east of Glasgow^ on 31st March, one picked up dead at 

 Cardross about this date, and on ist April observed at Rouken 

 Glen near Glasgow. This species appears to have been moving 

 freely about these dates. Lays at Kirkliston 21st May. 



Upupa epops (Hoopoe). — One on Fair Isle, 9th September (p. '^'^. 



CucuLus canorus (Cuckoo). — Lendalfoot (Ayr), 27th April ; Dairy, 

 30th; Beith, 2nd May; Beattock, 3rd; Auchencairn (Arran) 

 and Thornhill, 4th ; Caldwell and Gifi'nock (both East Renfrew) 

 on 5th ; Mull, 7th ; all on the west, comparatively speaking. On 

 the east at Teasses (Fife), 7 th; and at Cross wood Reservoir, at 

 Dunbar (where a female was shot as it came in from the sea), 

 and at Swordale (E. Ross) all on loth. A bad year for 

 Cuckoos in the Outer Hebrides, only two seen where they w^re 

 common last year (A.S.N.H., 1907, p. 211). Last heard 

 calling June 30th, Lugton. 



