6 t)R JOHNSTON^S ADDRESS. 



They are covered witli the dung of the innumerable flocks of birds 

 which resort here annually to breed, and fill every little projection, 

 every hole, which will give them leave to rest. Multitudes were 

 swimming about ; others swarmed in the air, and stunned us with the 

 variety of their croaks and screams. Kittiwakes, sea-mews, and black- 

 headed gulls, guillemots, auks, and corvorants, are among the species 

 which resort hither. "The notes of all seafowl are most harsh and 

 inharmonious. I have often rested under rocks like these, attentive 

 to the various sounds over my head ; which, mixed with the deep roar 

 of the waves slowly swelling, and retiring from the vast caverns 

 beneath, have produced a fine effect. The sharp voice of the gulls, the 

 frequent chatter of the guillemots, the loud notes of the auks, the 

 screams of the herons, together with the deep periodical croak of the 

 corvorants, (and the boding voice of the raven), which serves as a bass 

 to the rest, have often furnished me with a concert, which, joined to 

 the wild scenery siu-rounding me, afforded, in a high degree, that 

 species of pleasure which residts from the novelty and the gloomy 

 majesty of the entertainment ^" 



1 must not leave this majestic coast, without mention of another of 

 its feathered tenants, the Cornish chough {Fregilus graculus), which 

 indeed, was not seen by us on this occasion, but is certainly ascertained 

 to breed in the rocks between St Abb's and Fast Castle. This fact, 

 distinctly mentioned by Bishop Leslie in his history Be Origine Scotorum, 

 published about 300 years ago ^, has been overlooked or disregarded 

 by natvu-alists, who have considered the bird peculiar to the western 

 shores of Britain ^ ; and it is to the Eev. A. Baird that we are indebted 

 for the confirmation of the accuracy of the Bishop's information ; and, 

 of course, for showing that the limits usually assigned to the distribu- 

 tion of the chough in this country are erroneous. 



Reptiles. — Of the reptiles of Berwickshire, the frog {Rana temporaria) 

 and the toad {Bufo vulgaris), have met us every where ; and, in our 

 excursions to Penmanshiel Wood, and to St Bathan's, a viper ( Vipera 

 communis) was taken; but no communication relative to any of this 

 neglected tribe of animals has been laid before you. 



Fishes. — Mr Embleton gave us, at our meeting in December last, a 

 description of a singular individual of the salmon {Sahno salar), which 

 had been caught near Coldstream. It was distinguished by being 

 spotted over, in a leopard-like fashion, with pale marks, by having its 

 gill-covers beautifully streaked with red lines, and by leather-like fins ; 

 and these peculiarities were not the e:ffects of disease, for the fish was 

 in good condition, and perfectly sound. At the same meeting I presen- 

 ted to the Club a list of the less common fishes found on the coast of 

 Berwickshire, of which list the most remarkable, for their rarity at 



^ Arctic Zoology, i. Introd. p. xii. 



2 P. 17. Published in 1578. 



^ " Inhabits the western side of the island." Flem. £r. Anim. S3. 



