260 Ornithological Mies, by Mr. Robert Gray, F.R.S.E. 



examples obtained at Kincardine by the punt shooters, who 

 pursue their vocation there. 



Wigeon (Anas Penelope). — Has been very plentiful this 

 season in many parts of the county. Among wildfowl 

 this duck appears to have suffered very much during the 

 recent storm — many of the specimens obtained being 

 reduced to bones, skin, and feathers. 



Red-theoated Diver (Colymbus septentrionalis). — The 

 Red-throated Diver seems very abundant this season on the 

 east coast, as many as from twenty to thirty having been 

 seen in one day at Queensferry. Mr. Small informs me that 

 he had twenty sent in for preservation in a single week. 

 These birds may be presumed to be of Scandinavian origin. 

 A beautiful specimen was shot at North Berwick on 5th 

 January, 1875, shewing faint traces of the gular patch, 

 which is the earliest appearance of a seasonal change that I 

 have noticed in this species. 



Little Auk (Mergulus melanoleucos). — A specimen, much 

 wasted, was found alive at Prestonpans on 5th December, 

 1874, and another, in fine condition, was shot at Dunbar on 

 the 11th of the same month. It seems to occur every 

 season in a crippled state, even at some distance inland. I 

 have elsewhere treated of its occurrence off shore. 



Sandwich . Tern (Sterna Boysii). — This fine Tern still 

 breeds in limited numbers on the rocky islands in the 

 neighbourhood of North Berwick. Within the last twenty- 

 five years, however, this species has gradually retired from 

 its summer quarters there, and is now found more plenti- 

 fully on the Fife coast, where it breeds near the mouth of 

 the Tay. A few pairs frequent Inch Mickery, between 

 Cramond and the opposite shore. 



Kittiwake (Larus tridactylus). — I observed very large 

 numbers of this beautiful gull, chiefly in immature plumage, 

 at Granton and Newhaven, last month, flying within a few 

 feet of the public road. This bird is now a well established 

 winter visitant from Arctic waters ; having been seen and 

 procured of late years both on eastern and western coasts, 

 from November to March, when they appear to migrate 

 northwards, and are replaced by the home-bred birds which 

 had, in the previous autumn, gone southwards. 



Glaucous Gull (Larus glaucus). — This conspicuous sea- 

 gull may now be regarded as a regular winter visitant to 

 the north in considerable numbers. Four adult specimens 



