108 Notes on the Birds which Inhabit Scotton Common. 
and these were probably visiting.an ancient home of their ancestors 
Other rarities such as Pallas’ Sand-grouse, and the 
Selavonian Grebe have, on occasion, put in an appea rance’ 
But, as already remarked, it is not my intention in this paper to 
write a past history of the birds of the Common. Such a history 
would be of very great interest if undertaken by some qualified 
person. These few remarks therefore are all that Ican here give to 
Satisfy a “laudatory temporss acti.” 
The writer first visited the Common early in the year 1900, 
and has made frequent expeditions to the place since, chiefly in 
Spring and Summer, as opportunities offered. Careful notes have 
been kept on the birds observed, and so what follows in this paper 
may be considered the result of personal observation, for which 
the writer is responsible. On this account the reader is asked to 
forgive the frequent use of the first personal pronoun, 
Among the smaller birds, the most characteristic species 
which haunt the Common during the nesting season are the 
Wheatear, Whinchat, Stonechat (a pair or two), 
Willow Wren, Sedge Warbler, Meadow Pipit, 
Linnet, Reed Bunting and Skylark. On one 
occasion, May 27th, 1901, I came across the Grasshopper 
Wapbler, evidently nesting, and I have heard the Reed 
Wapbler singing among the tall reeds at the margin of the 
ponds where a pair or two probably breed. Lesser Redpolls 
also haunt the birch trees which fringe the Common and a search 
would doubtless reveal their nests. The Long-eared Owl, 
Green and Greater-spotted Woodpeckers are 
among the scarcer birds which inhabit the woods on the edge of 
the heath, and the Kestrel may often be seen hovering in the 
airon the look out for an unwary field-mouse or lizard. Ona 
summer’s evening, about the time of year when the little blue flower 
Pinguicula may be looked for on the Common, the curious ratt- 
ling cry of the Nightjar may often be heard, but it takes a very 
careful search to enable one to find the eggs, looking like two 
flints on a bare patch among the heather. 
Several colonies of Blaek=headed Gulls, consisting 
probably of more than a thousand pairs in all, nest on the ponds _ 
