132 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 
Golden Oriole in Wigtownshire.—A neighbour of mine 
told me towards the end of June that he was puzzled by the note 
of a bird in a thick plantation of young Scots pine and birch. 
He had repeatedly returned there and always heard the bird, 
but never could catch sight of it. From his description of the 
call—a monotonous, but melodious, flute-like note—I told him 
it was almost certainly a Golden Oriole. Having just returned 
from the south of Spain, where Orioles abound, I was not surprised 
that he had failed to get a view of the bird, which is very 
clandestine in its movements, and is far more frequently heard 
than seen. 
I was unable to visit the wood at the time; but my friend 
persevered and at last succeeded by a simple stratagem. He 
laid a small piece of white paper on the ground near the thicket 
whence the sound came, concealed himself, and before long the 
musician, undoubtedly a male Golden Oriole (Oriolus galbula), 
perched on a bough above the paper, eyed it curiously, but did 
not descend to it. 
When I went with my friend to the place in July, the song 
(if it may be so termed) had ceased, and we could not see the 
bird, nor was there any evidence of a mate being in its company. 
I may add that my friend, although not an expert ornithologist, 
is a practised sportsman and much interested in bird life. 
The occurrence of this beautiful species in Britain usually 
takes the form of an obituary notice, a high price being set on 
its head by collectors and taxidermists. More’s the pity, for, 
as Lord Lilford remarks, it ‘‘ only requires protection and encourage- 
ment to become tolerably common,” at least in the eastern and 
southern counties of England. ‘There seem to be very few notices 
of its appearance in Scotland. Yarrell says that it does not appear 
to have been seen there; but in his paper on the parish of 
Cockburnspath, Haddingtonshire, in the Mew Statistical Account, 
1834, the Rev. A. Baird mentions the Golden Oriole, the Hoopoe, 
and the Bohemian Chatterer as ‘‘occasional visitants,” and there 
are several later records, mostly from the southern counties, 
though the Shetlands and Orkneys as well as the intermediate 
Fair Isle have ail had recorded visits—HERBERT MAXWELL, 
Monreith. 
Bittern in Berwickshire.—A Common Bittern was shot at 
Wyle-cleuch, Letham, on 25th January 1921.- Steps have been 
taken to ensure that such an accident will not recur.—T. G. 
LAIDLAW, Duns. 
