Mr Muirhead on the Birds of Paxton. 391 



had continued severe for a week or two, they seemed to get weak 

 and rose with reluctance from their haunts, and flew slowly, and 

 alighted very soon again, at no great distance from the place 

 where they rose. The burn which runs through the Well Mire 

 Wood and falls into the Whiteadder, never freezes in the hardest 

 frost ; and as the ground over which it runs is soft and easily 

 penetrated by the bills of the "Woodcocks, it is their favourite 

 resort when snow lies on the ground and the frost is severe. 

 15th Oct., 1875. 3 Woodcocks seen here to day. First this 



87. Snipe. Scolopax gallinago. During the autumn, winter, 

 and spring months, Snipes in small numbers, frequent the 

 marshy ground about the mouth of the Whiteadder. I have 

 shot five or six there in one morning. After a flood in Tweed, 

 when the ground is soft and muddy, there are always more 

 iSnipes than usual. During severe weather in winter, I have 

 observed Snipes feeding about the small burns which keep free 

 of ice. 



88. Jacksnipe. Seolopax gallinula. A few Jacksnipes are to 

 be found along with the Common Snipe, in the autumn, winter, 

 and spring, about the marshy ground at the mouth of the White- 

 adder. I shot a Jacksnipe there in the autumn of 1874, as early 

 as the 21st September. 



I have not seen the Great Snipe, (Scolopax major) in this 

 neighbourhood. 



89. Landrail. Crex pratensis. The Landrail may be heard 

 in the summer evenings uttering its well known cry in the fields 

 about here, where it breeds. 



21st December, 1875. Neither I, nor any of my neighbours 

 to whom I have spoken on the subject, heard the cry of the 

 Landrail here last summer. Several friends of mine in East 

 Lothian also remarked its absence this year from their district. 

 In reply to an enquiry sent by me to the "Field," regarding the 

 apparent scarcity of the Landrail last season, a correspondent 

 stated that he had noticed its absence from his neighbourhood in 

 Devonshire this year. 



90. Water Rail. Rallus aquaticus. The Water Kail is oc- 

 casionally seen during winter in this neighbourhood. One was 

 shot at Nabdean Mill Pond several years ago, and another was 

 killed from amongst some reeds near the mouth of the White- 

 adder, in November, 1873. 



91. Moorhen. Gallinula chloropus. Great numbers of Water- 

 hens frequent Nabdean Mill Pond, and also the side of the Tweed 

 and Whiteadder. 



31st December, 1874. I noticed several Waterhens lying dead 

 about their usual haunts, from the severity of the weather ; and 



1 X 



