THE KINGFISHER. 269 



that made by a dog when retching. When emitting the 

 latter note the bird contracts the fore -part of its body with 

 a jerking motion, and, as I never heard this cry except in 

 summer when two birds were together, I concluded it was 

 an amorous call, like that of the Eook in early spring." i 

 Mr. John Gillies, Edington Mill, says that it is often seen 

 on the river there, and at Ninewells ; and Mr. John 

 Blackadder, East Blanerne, has mentioned to me that he 

 observes it about Billie Burn every spring. There is a 

 deep pool on the Whitadder, near Elbaw, called " Hell's 

 Cradle," ^ and here, I have been told by the gardener at 

 Abbey St. Bathans, a nest of this species, with young, was 

 found in the summer of 1886. Mr, Duns, Duns, has known 

 it build near the Peelie Braes, between Cockburn Mill and 

 Preston Bridge, and the nest has also been discovered in 

 other parts of the river. On the Leader, and the streamlets 

 which flow into it, the Kingfisher is occasionally seen, and 

 Mr, Scott, Lauder, told me that it had bred at Carolside 

 within the last few years, Mr. Kelly writes : — " A pair for a 

 long time frequented the Longcroft Water, from where it 

 joins the Leader to Cleekhimin, and nested in the Bed Brae, 

 There being no trees, they were obliged to watch their prey 

 from a rock," ^ The Boondreigh Burn, which is another 

 tributary of the Leader, sometimes receives a visit from 

 this bird, no fewer than four having been seen near the 

 Dod Mill, a few years ago,* Mr, Hardy frequently notices 

 it on the Eye about Eenton and Grantshouse, and Mr. J. L. 

 Mack tells me that he found a nest with four eggs in a hole 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. vii. p. 120. 



^ In this pool were found the bodies of two girls— Isabella Lauder, Cran- 

 shaws, and Matilda Whitehead, Duns — who were unfortunately drowned on 30th 

 September 1883, while attempting to cross the Whitadder on a foot plank at 

 Ellemford. Their bodies were not recovered for some days after the accident, 

 having been carried down to Elbaw by the flooded river. 



3 Hist. Ber. Nat. Clnb, vol. vii. p. 304. 



■• Mr. Lockie, Gateside, Spottiswoode. 



