538 Notes on Effects of the 'past Winter, by A. Brotherston. 



has been gorged with trout and par, in various stages of diges- 

 tion, and from three or four inches in length up to nine and a 

 half. One of them had been feeding on eels. They must devour 

 large quantities of fish, as the digestive process goes on very 

 rapidly. Often the head of the fish is decomposed, while the tail 

 is quite fresh. They are invariably swallowed head first. The 

 Little Grebes were in good condition ; one, in addition to the re- 

 mains of aquatic insects and their larvae, had a quantity of 

 salmon-roe in its stomach. The feet of several Grebes and 

 Ducks were frost-bitten, part of the toes and web being lost. 

 One, a Tufted Duck, was found frozen to the ice. 



Three Little Auks were captured during the winter ; all were 

 very much emaciated, being little more than skin and bone — one 

 of them was found fully fifteen miles from the sea. Another 

 was seen flying down the Tweed near Sprouston. The various 

 species of Gulls were very fat. Several of them, in the very 

 depth of the winter, were fatter than any birds that I had pre- 

 viously seen. Judging from the contents of their stomachs, it is 

 difficult to" say what they had been feeding upon — a few small 

 fish ; but chiefly, I think, the carcases of animals and dead fish 

 which have floated down the river. Any Squirrels that I have 

 had were also fat. The Squirrel is supposed by some to lie dor- 

 mant during frost, but I am convinced that such is not always 

 the case, as I have seen them when it was very hard. The Bab- 

 bits, especially in the upland districts, suffered very severely ; 

 whilst in some parts, where they had access to the turnips, — 

 which were a splendid crop — they fared better. Much damage 

 has been clone by them in young plantations by barking the 

 trees. The Field Vole (Arvicola agrestis) has also been very des- 

 tructive (on one estate, at least, that I have seen) ; but their work 

 is not so apparent, as their operations were confined to barking 

 the young trees just above the surface, where it is hidden by the 

 withered grass and other herbage. 



From the above notes it will be seen that there are many birds 

 which, instead of having been starved with cold and hunger, 

 were the opposite. Their natural instinct came to the aid of those 

 which felt it most, taking them either to the sea-side or to war- 

 mer climates, where suitable food and shelter would be more 

 easily obtained. Now that the winter is past, the small birds, 

 instead of being all but annihilated, as many writers prophesied, 

 are still to be seen in about their usual numbers. 



