NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 139 



51. Hooded Crow. Corvus comix, Lin. — This most mischievous 

 and destructive of all birds still holds its own, notwithstanding that 

 every keeper's hand is, and rightly so, against it ; it is, however, 

 slowly decreasing in most places. The nest of the Hooded Crow 

 referred to before, as having begun the destruction of the Hen- 

 Harrier's nest, was found placed under a stone on the hill-side 

 amongst some long heather ; a position I never heard of before 



Obs. — Xot far from these two nests was a Merlin's, a marvellous 

 collection of " vermin " so near together.* 



52. Carrion Crow. Corvus carom, Lin. — I saw a bird that I 

 took to be this, walking about with a " Hoodie " one day, when 

 driving down to the river, and T heard later on that a Black and 

 a Hooded Crow had been shot at one nest by one of the Dun robin 

 keepers.! 



53. Rook. Corvus frugilegus, Lin. — There is one very large 

 Rookery at Dunrobin, and several smaller ones in different places 

 on the East coast. There would be a great increase of these birds 

 if they were left alone at the breeding season, but in several places 

 they are then fired at and the nests pulled down. 



54. Jackdaw. Corvus monedula, Lin. — Another abundant, and 

 very destructive species, nesting in old banks and low cliffs. These 

 birds destroy most of the seabirds' eggs along the shore, and eat the 

 rabbits out of the snares. Nothing seems to drive them away 

 completely. 



55. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris, Lin. — A bird that, though rare 

 ten or twelve years ago, is now comparatively common. A pair 

 bred in the spout of my house at Balnacoil, about ten miles from 

 the coast. 



56. Bullfinch. Pyrrhula europaea, Vieill. —Fairly common, and 

 resident. Much seldomer seen in the summer than in the winter, 

 when they appear to go about in small flocks. 



* See my remarks also under Hen-Harrier, antea, p. 132. As regards the 

 breeding of Hooded Crows upon the ground, this is the situation almost invari- 

 ably chosen in North Uist, simply from the lack of either rocks or trees. 

 I have found several such nests, usually in sloping banks of long heather, and 

 I have seen a shepherd's dog there, that, besides being a good otter dog, was a 

 capital bird's-nester, and actually pointed the nests. In South Uist Kestrels 

 also breed on the ground. — J. A. H.-B. 



t For an account of accumulations of Carrion Crows in the Tongue district 

 of late years, and of nesting sites, see my 2nd Report on Scottish Ornithology. 

 Proc, vol. iv., p. 307.— J. A. H.-B. 



