82 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



been a young bird as its bill was dark in colour. While 

 on the Isle of May in May, we were interested to notice 

 that there were several birds in the Herring Gullery which 

 still had many signs of immature plumage, immature 

 markings being evident on the wings and the dark bar 

 still on the tail. We were very anxious to discover whether 

 these birds were breeding, and this seems to have been 

 the case, as on i8th May we saw one of these birds in 

 immature plumage pairing with a fully adult female. 



Food, Habits, etc. 



A male Carrion Crow at Hareshawmuir found another 

 mate ten days after its first one was shot, and at Collessie, 

 Fife, on 12th October, twenty to thirty House Sparrows 

 were seen picking the lime from between the bricks of a 

 building — "cavities in the lime between the bricks were 

 about 2 inches deep." A Cole-tit at Beith, Ayrshire, was 

 found to have made its nest in a hole in a tree 6 feet 

 from the ground ; our correspondent says, " I have never 

 met with a nest of this bird placed so high." About the 

 middle of June we saw a nest in a gooseberry bush in a 

 garden near Colinsburgh, Fife ; it was made of moss and 

 leaves, had a small round hole on the south side and was 

 unlined — a typical "cock" Wren's nest. On 2nd July we 

 visited the nest again and found it had been taken by 

 a Willow-warbler, the hole at the south closed up, an 

 opening made to the north, and the nest lined with feathers. 

 We saw the Willow-warbler leave the nest, which contained 

 several eggs. Young Robins were seen eating raspberries 

 at Beith, and in The Scotsman (28th January 1922) there is 

 an interesting note of a Swallow which was apparently 

 asleep on a fence and which allowed itself to be stroked 

 by the observer before it awoke and flew away. A Wren 

 was seen dusting itself on the road, at Beith, the first time 

 our correspondent has noticed this species do so, while on 

 9th September, in Glen Doll, a Peregrine was seen to 

 " swoop at a Golden Eagle and the two birds fell sparring 

 to the ground. The Peregrine then flew off." Some young 

 and old birds were found this season at Inchrye, Fife, 



