138 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



East Lothian and Forfarshire: in the first named county the male 

 is called the "cock o' the north;" in the other both sexes are 

 known as " tartan backs." 



Mr Alston writes to me that he skinned a male of this species 

 in the autumn of 1869, and found its gizzard full of fragments of 

 the kernels of nuts, seemingly hazel. The bird was killed near 

 Glenalmond, in Perthshire. 



On the inner islands the Brambling is found but sparingly, some 

 winters passing without a visit from a single bird. 



THE WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 



ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS. 



A FEMALE specimen of this North American bird was shot near 

 the Broadhill, on Aberdeen Links, by Alex. Mitchell, on the 17th 

 August, 1867, and forwarded to me a few weeks afterwards by 

 Mr Angus, to whom Mr Mitchell had presented the bird. In 

 March, 1868, a notice of the occurrence was communicated by Mr 

 Angus to the Natural History Society of Glasgow, and a full de- 

 scription of the plumage, with other details, was afterwards pub- 

 lished in the proceedings of that Society, accompanied by a plate 

 containing two figures, which Mr Sinclair had drawn for this work. 



It is quite possible that, from its general resemblance to some 

 of the female buntings, this bird may have hitherto passed unno- 

 ticed in the eastern districts of Scotland. Mr Mitchell was 

 attracted, in this instance, to the movements of the bird as it sat 

 perched on a whin-bush jerking its tail, but a less observant eye 

 might have failed to remark the peculiarity. It may be well, 

 therefore, for scientific collectors residing in the north-eastern 

 counties to look out for the species in autumn, when stragglers 

 are likely to arrive on our shores. We know that it is strictly a 

 winter visitant to the Southern States of America, appearing there 

 suddenly in considerable flocks ; there is therefore nothing incon- 

 sistent in the surmise that straggling parties may in the course 

 of their flight be driven eastwards from Newfoundland to this 

 country. 



The two birds which are figured on the plate, when contrasted 

 with ordinary examples shot in spring, present a worn appearance, 

 and are much less vivid in coloration and general markings. Such 



