392 Mr Muirhead on the Birds at Paxton. 



have found one or two so weak that they sat amongst the snow 

 and allowed me to take them up in my hand. 



92. Coot. Fulica atra. The Coot is occasionally seen on the 

 Tweed here. When I was watching for Wild Ducks one evening 

 in December, 1874, at Nabdean Pond, I fired at, and killed a 

 Coot, which came flying rapidly over my head like a Wild Duck, 

 for which, in the gray dark, I mistook it. Coots are never seen 

 in the pond so the birds evidently must have come from the 

 Tweed. 



93. Bean Goose. Anser segetum Large flocks of Wild Geese 

 pass over Paxton towards the southeast, in the months of October 

 and November, and generally keep high in the air, far out of the 

 reach of shot. Paxton Tilework is in the line of their usual 

 flight, and a flock was seen by some men who were working 

 there, to alight on one of the high lying fields to the east of the 

 Tilework, in November, 1874. A Wild Goose was shot near 

 the mouth of the Whiteadder, in October, 1874; and from the 

 description which I got of the bird, I have no doubt it was a 

 Bean Goose which had been wounded and had separated from a 

 flock. Twenty Geese were seen sitting in a field on Gainslawhill 

 Farm, near Paxton Toll, one day about the beginning of Decem- 

 b< r last. A Wild Goose was killed out of a flock of three, which 

 alighted on Spital Mains Farm near Paxton, several years ago. 



Immense flocks of the Bean Goose frequented the farm of 

 Fenton-barns, near Drem, in East Lothian, in the autumn, winter, 

 and spring months of 1867-68. They began to come to the farm 

 about the end of November, and left in the beginning of April. 

 They used to feed on the grass fields, and winter wheat, and ap- 

 peared to prefer wheat land after potatoes. I think that besides 

 feeding on the young wheat, they would pick up any small 

 potatoes that had been left lying near the surface of the ground, 

 when wheat was sown. The Geese had favourite fields for alight- 

 ing upon and feeding, and seemed to prefer one either quite flat, 

 or which had rising ground in the centre, from which they could 

 easily observe the approach of. an enemy. They very seldom 

 ventured near any of the edges, but generally fed about the 

 middle of the fields, at a considerable distance from fences, or 

 ditches, and were exceedingly vigilant and wary. Although I 

 tried very often to get within range of the flocks when they were 

 feedingin the fields, 1 never succeededin doing so, the Geese always 

 discovering me before I got sufficiently near to use my gun with 

 effect. The only way ot getting a shot at them that I found suc- 

 cessful, was by marking a flock feeding in one of the fields, from 

 a distance with a telescope, and then going and concealing my- 

 self behind a thick part of the hedge of one of the adjoining fields, 

 in the line of flight usually taken by the Geese, when risen from 

 the particular field in which they happen to be feeding. Before 



