342 APPENDIX. 



Sparrow ; but at Balnacoil in 1879 and that year only a pair bred 

 there. Has once occurred at Badenloch. In the west appeared at 

 Inchnadamph for the first time in 1882, when a pair arrived in 

 spring after a gale of wind, and remained and bred, and they again 

 are present in 1884. Common at Altnaharrow. Present, but not 

 abundant, at Durness, also at Scourie, and again at Tongue and else- 

 where. 



Greenfinch Ligurinus chloris (Linn. ) 



Resident ; not numerous ; probably confined to the south-east of the 

 county. Rare or absent in the west, and rare about Tongue. 



Goldfinch Carduelis elegans (Stephens). 



Must be extremely rare, as we ourselves have never seen this bird ; Mr. 

 Mackenzie informs us that it is known to breed at Dornoch, and that 

 birds are occasionally seen in his neighbourhood. St. John remarks 

 upon it as being very rare even when he was in the county, 1848, but 

 it was common then in comparison with the present time. "A pair 

 were seen in a birch- wood on the banks of Loch Laoghal by Mr. James 

 Wilson "one of Mr. Selby's party in 1834. It has not been observed, 

 up to date, at Tongue. 



Siskin Carduelis spinus (Linn.) 



Resident ; breeding about Dunrobin regularly, and probably does so 

 through all the wooded districts of the south-east ; the nest, how- 

 ever, is extremely difficult to find, being placed on a pine-tree, and 

 generally at the end of a branch, concealed from beneath by the cup 

 formed by the uprising of the terminal fronds. Our informant says 

 that they breed at two different times of the year, first in April and 

 May, and again in June and July, he having taken the young in 

 August ; he also says the earlier breeders are smaller and more lively 

 and cheerful than the later ones. Mr. T. Mackenzie reared a young 

 one taken on the 21st May 1875, and it proved an interesting pet. 

 Mr. E. R. Alston observed several birds at Rosehall when he was 

 passing south in June 1877. 



Lesser Redpoll Linota rufescens (Vieill. ) 



Breeds rather commonly in some of the birch and alder woods on the 

 east coast ; fresh eggs may be taken from the middle of May to the 

 middle of June. Breeds almost in a colony, near Lairg. Not hitherto 

 observed in the west of the county, and unrecorded in the Tongue 

 district, or elsewhere in the north. 



Linnet Linota cannabina (Linn.) 



Resident, and common on the east coast, especially from Port Gower 

 to the Mound, where there are great quantities of whin bushes suitable 

 for breeding sites ; their place in the straths is taken by the Lesser Red- 

 pole. Not common in the west. During our experience we have shot 

 some half-dozen specimens. Occurs, perhaps regularly, at Inchnadamph. 

 Seen there, certainly, previous to 1877, and again in that year, but not 

 observed since then. Reported common at Tongue. 



Twite Linota flavirostris (Linn. ) 



Not known in the south-east, at least as a breeding species ; may pos- 

 sibly occur with the flocks of common linnets in the winter. Breeds 

 regularly at Inchnadamph, and has done so as long as we remember 

 the place, but only in limited numbers. In 1884 a flock of at least 40 

 seen in early part of May by Mr. J. Young. Comparatively common 

 also at Drumbeg, on the north coast of Stoir, where we met with them 

 first in 1883. Rare or absent, so far as known, on the north coast 

 between Cape Wrath and Whiten Head, though the ground around 



