NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 145 



common summer visitor, and very conspicuous to anyone fishing 

 among the lochs and rivers of Sutherland, as it is sure to be seen 

 sitting on some stone by the waterside, nodding its head, moving 

 its tail up and down, and whistling. This bird lays sometimes 

 three, but generally four eggs, and the nest is usually placed in a 

 very open place. 



88. Sanderling. Calidris arenaria (Lin.). — An autumn visitant, 

 but by no means very common. 



89. Purple Sandpiper. Tringa striata, Lin. — A very common 

 winter visitant, sometimes appearing in considerable flocks. They 

 invariably alight on stones, and can stand a good knock from a wave 

 without being washed off. 



90. Dunlin. Tringa alpina, Lin. — Xot a very common species 

 at any time of the year, though a certain number breed on the 

 hills, and I have seen their nests at Balnacoil and Altnaharra. I 

 have seen a few birds in the winter at the Little Ferry, but never 

 in such flocks as one sees on the Huniber. 



91. Woodcock. Scolopax rusticola, Lin. — A resident species, 

 breeding all through the county, and beginning to lay about the 

 middle of April. The nest is very much exposed, being generally 

 a slight hollow at the foot of a birch tree. In the evening, all 

 through the spring and summer, the birds may be seen flying 

 over the trees, now and then suddenly dropping down like a bat, 

 and they seem to have regular roads in the air, so to speak, as 

 evening after evening they take the same line. Their note is a 

 sort of chirrup, and their flight laboured, very different to that of 

 a 'Cock in the season when he has been flushed once or twice. 

 "Whinbush.es are excellent cover for these birds in the winter, 

 especially the larger ones open at the bottom, for they don't like to 

 sit in a place where they cannot move about. During open weather 

 the 'Cocks on the East coast are very much scattered through the 

 hills, but the first heavy snow drives them in, where they can find 

 shelter. 



92. Snipe. Gallinago gallinaria, 0. F. Mull. — Resident through- 

 out the year, unless an unusually heavy storm prevails, when they 

 leave ; but they are by no means very common. They are most 

 numerous when the northern migrants arrive, as they then stay a 

 day or two on their way south. Should there be a slight snow- 

 storm at the time, the birds are driven down to the lower meadows, 

 and, on one occasion, I got seven couple at Balnacoil. 



