NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF LINLITHGOW LOCH. 105 



GoosANDEii. — Several of these were to be seen on the lake 

 (luring the winters of 1911-12 and 1912-13. 



"November (jtb, 1911. A flock of six Goosanders on the 

 lake, one of them an adult male." 



" November 18th, 1912. I saw to-day a flock of at least a 

 dozen Goosanders on the lake, about half of them being males 

 in good plumage." 



In 1913, till I left in December, no Goosanders had appeared. 

 The first that I saw in 1911 were on the lake the morning after 

 a very heavy storm. They were magnificent birds, the whole 

 flock keeping together, the birds diving and plunging through 

 the water at a great pace. 



Great Crested Grebe. — I have seen one or two on the lake 

 from time to time, but they are only stray visitors and never 

 nest, though there is some suitable cover for them if they 

 wished to do so. I saw this species on November 18th, 1912, 

 and on September 16th, 1913. 



Little Grebe. — There are one or two pairs of these. I 

 believe that I have seen the young. 



Coot. — Common and resident. 



Waterhen. — Common and resident. 



Cormorant. — These are constant visitors to the lake. I have 

 seen three or four at a time sitting on the trees on the little 

 islands. They constantly fly to the lake from the Forth, and 

 fish for an hour or two before leaving. 



Heron. — These are constantly to be seen at every season of 

 the year, but they do not nest. 



Snipe. — I have seen three or four of these at different 

 times. 



Sandpiper. — I have seen these on several occasions. 



Eedshank. — I have seen very few. On October 29th, 1913, 

 I saw a flock of three or four. 



Gulls. — The Herring- Gull, Common Gull, and Blackheaded 

 Gull are to be seen constantly, the Herring- Gull being in flocks 

 of hundreds at times. The Lesser Black-backed Gull is 

 numerous in spring, but I cannot say that I have seen it in 

 winter. The Great Black-backed Gull comes in small numbers, 

 usually, I believe, in winter. Sometimes I could not decide 

 which of these two latter species I was watching through the 



