70 Trarisactions. 



2Jf.th April. — Shown a yellow wagtail's nest under a brow up 

 Shinnel water. Nest, line roots and some straw • inside some 

 feathers, lined with horse hair. Five eggs, dirty white, with very 

 light brown spots. 



5th May. — I got from J. Douglas a starling's nest contain- 

 ing two eggs, which he found near the Castle upon an elm tree 

 near a burn, and not very far from the ground. The nest is 

 formed something similar to a blackbird's. It is built of green 

 moss and clay, with a very little white moss. The inner structure 

 is plastered, and the inside is lined with a thick coating of pretty 

 fine grass. The eggs are white, slightly tinged with green, and 

 pretty thickly spotted with a brown approaching to red. 



He makes some general remarks at intervals, of which the 

 following for May is a fair specimen : — This month may be said 

 to renew the labours of the naturalist. Bird nests are found in 

 abundance, many insects may be collected, snakes and adders 

 have appeared, the meadows and woods are clothed with flowers 

 and foliage, the seeds have sprung, and winter is borne down by 

 the vigorous spring. 



Srd May. — I saw the white hare at Drumlanrig Castle, and also 

 in the hothouse where pints wei'e growing a particular ant, which 

 Hannan said was foreign. It was much smaller than our one. 



21st May. — I went to see at the Gate, Closeburn, a pig said to 

 have three ears. The pig on examination liad its natural ears 

 and upon the left side of the head the form of an ear much 

 smaller than the natural one. It had no entrance into the head 

 that I could observe, but in time it may. 



Jtdy. — I found my snake dead after having kept it more than 

 eleven months. I observed last season before winter set in that 

 the black clocks that fell into his den were all broken and lying 

 in balls or lumps. Now, does a snake vomit the indigestible parts 

 of its food as birds of prey do % I could account for it no other 

 way. True, there was a toad in beside it, but the size of the 

 lumps, and, altogether, it never struck me to be it. The toad 

 still enjoys seemingly good health. The serpent and he were very 

 good friends and never seemed to mind each other, the serpent 

 crawling over its body without disturbing it. The serpent never 

 would eat in my presence. 



llih July. — Lett the school before 12, and went up the hill 

 craig before Tynron Doon. Kept upon the ridges till intercepted 



