380 Mr Muirhead on the Birds' of Paxton. 



6. Henharrier. Circus cyaneus. I saw a female Hen- 

 harrier in a plantation at the side of the Tweed here on the 16th 

 October last. The bird rose from a tree on which it had been 

 sitting apparently asleep, for it allowed me to approach within 

 thirty yards, and hovered away over in the direction of the 

 Whiteadder. It looked somewhat like a seagull in its flight. 

 The Henharrier is very rare in this locality, the above being the 

 only^ instance of its occurrence which has come under my ob- 

 servation during a residence of five years. I have been told by 

 old people that it used to frequent the marshy ground at Billie 

 Mire, in considerable numbers about 60 years ago, and that its 

 nest was then often found there amongst the rushes. 



7. Long Eared Owl. Otus vulgaris. This Owl was observed 

 several times in the plantations here, in the summer of 1874. I 

 rose one out of a large hawthorn tree, close to the side of the 

 Tweed, in the month of August, It was sitting along with a 

 Tawny Owl, in the thickest part of the trees. In the following 

 month of September, I saw one in the Silver Fir Strip at 

 Nabdean. 



The Short Eared Owl, (Otus brachyotusj, does not appear to 

 visit this neighbourhood 



8. White Owl. Stria flammea. I have been told by "the 

 forester here, that the White Owl used to breed regularly in the 

 high rocks at the side of the Whiteadder, near Clarabad Quarry, 

 but it has not been noticed there for several years. One was 

 caught in a rat trap, in the stackyard at Paxton North Mains, 

 several years ago. A fine specimen of this Owl was shot at the 

 side of the Whiteadder, near Edrington Mill, in October 1875. 



9. Tawny Owl. Symium aluco. The Tawny Owl is plenti- 

 ful in the wood at Paxton, and sometimes several may be heard 

 hooting at night. It builds its nest every year in the Wester 

 Strip, in the policy. It has been known also to have its nest 

 on a tall thickly branched larch tree, near the Lover's Tryste, 

 and upon one occasion there was a Wood Pigeon's nest on 

 a branch of the same tree, not far from the Owl's. When a boy 

 went up to get the young uwls, the pigeon flew off her nest, and 

 he found that she had two eggs. 



10. Tengmalm's Owl. Nyctale funerea. A specimen of this 

 rare bird was killed at Berwick, in February 1874, and is now 

 preserved in the Museum there. 



11. Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor. A Great Grey 

 Shrike was shot near West Ord, in November 1873. I have a 

 beautiful specimen which was shot at Bughtknowe, in the 

 parish of Humbie, East Lothian, in the winter of 1869. 



12. Spotted Flycatcher. Muscicapa grisola. This bird is 

 found sparingly distributed about the plantations at Paxton. 

 There is a nest every year near the Avenue Bridge. 



