434 The Zoologist — October, 1866. 



enliven the solitudes of the glens, and on the hills the meadow pipit 

 and twite abound. The holes and crannies of the lofty rocks are the 

 abode of vast numbers of jackdaws, but I saw no rooks, and only one 

 or two carrion crows. On the north-western coast, where Iwiraan 

 habitations are few and far between, both swallows and martins appear 

 to build on the low cliffs : at least we saw numbers of both species 

 hawking along the shore, and frequently flying up to nooks and corners 

 in the rocks, but we were not near enough to distinguish the 

 nests. 



Both black and red grouse are abundant : the latter, like those of 

 Argyleshire and the north geiierally, sit well throughout the season, 

 instead of soon assembling in large "packs" like those of the South 

 of Scotland. I saw a preserved specimen of a " gray hen," killed in 

 the island, which had partly assumed the plumage of the male. 

 Should the experiment of introducing the Norwegian willow grouse 

 into this country ever be made, a better place than Ari'an could not be 

 found. Here the strangers would be safe from poachers, both biped 

 and quadruped, and they would have their choice of luxuriant heather, 

 bare rocky hills, and large thickets of dwarf birch. Such an experi- 

 ment, carefully conducted, might do much towards settling the 

 question of their identity with our native bird. 



Of waders, the golden plover, peewit, curlew and snipe breed on 

 the moors, and the ring dotterel, oystercatcher and common heron are 

 all plentiful along the shore. Woodcocks are numerous in winter, but 

 I did not hear of their breeding in the island. 



Arran appears to have no breeding-station for sea-birds, but it is 

 visited by numbers from the Bass Rock and other localities. Of gulls 

 I observed the kittivvake, common, herring, lesser and greater black- 

 backed and the blackheaded species : of these the greater blackbacked 

 seems to be the rarest. 



Beptiles. — I believe that both the common frog and toad are found 

 in Arran, but the reptile of the island is the adder or viper, which is 

 extremely plentiful on the warm sunnj' glens and hill-sides. As on 

 the mainland it often destroys sheep, probably when trampled on. 

 The black variety, which is extremely rare in Scotland generally, is 

 not uncommon in Arran. 



Fish. — Of these I can say but little. The small burns contain 

 multitudes of common trout [Salino fario), generally of very small size, 

 and in some of them the sea or salmon-trout [S. triitta) is also found. 

 The usual sea-fish are taken along the coast, including the "John 



