WINTER EXCURSION. 301 



the tree tops are multitudes of Linnets, Finches, and Sparrows, 

 which, having been scared from the corn-yard by some truant 

 schoolboys, are w^aiting impatiently until they may return with 

 safety. High over head stretches a long array of Plovers, 

 silently flying towards the shores, whither we shall follow them. 



In this wood are many birds, which in the meantime it may 

 be well to note, as w^e may leisurely do, for they take no no- 

 tice of us, as incessantly uttering their shrill and feeble cheeps, 

 they flit from twig to twig, ever anxious to spy the minute ob- 

 jects on w^hich they feed. The bright blue tints and lively 

 appearance of that tiny thing shew it to be the Blue Tit ; its 

 relative is readily distinguished by the deep black of its head, 

 broken by a wdiite spot on the occiput ; while the dark stripe 

 down the yellow breast of that larger species marks it as the 

 Greater Tit. Now they have shifted from tree to tree, and in 

 their rear follows a scattered flock of still smaller birds, which 

 although too distant to be distinctly seen, are known to be 

 Gold-crests, from their peculiar cry, fluttering motion, and 

 varied attitudes. 



The vicinity of Edinburgh seems especially favourable to 

 Rooks, for go w^here you will, at all seasons of the year, and 

 in all sorts of weather, you find them scattered over the fields. 

 That dunghil behind the wall is covered with them, and on 

 the road are straggling parties searching for some small fare in 

 the ruts of the cart-wheels. What these poor Magpies can be 

 about in the middle of the field I cannot conjecture, unless 

 they may have discovered a frozen potato, or a dead bird. 



The tide is out, and on the muddy flat at the mouth of the 

 Almond, you observe vast collections of Rooks and Gulls. 

 Small flocks of Ducks are swimming about in the stream ; 

 and groups of Sandpipers are diligently probing the mud along 

 its edges. Far away, at a safe distance, are many Curlews 

 and Oyster-catchers. But see, scattered all over the sand, 

 running with a half-hopping motion, and as they rise on wing 

 displaying the white of their wings and tail, the beautiful 

 Snow Buntings. At the edge of the water stand in a fixed 

 and watchful posture a pair of Herons ; and, out at sea, are 

 seen here and there, a few dark -coloured birds, which may be 



