Mr Muirhead on the Birds at Paxton. 393 



going to my place of concealment I used to instruct a boy in what 

 direction to put up the Geese, and if he managed well, the flock 

 sometimes came straight over my head within fine range. In that 

 way I had the satisfaction of bringing down a Goose occasionally 

 with my gun. The Wild Geese used sometimes to sit all night 

 in the fields when there was moonlight. They generally used to 

 fly to Gullane Sands in the evenings, and return to the fields in 

 the mornings, shortly after sunrise. Fala Flow on the Lammer- 

 muir Hills, near Soutra Mains in East Lothian, is a favourite 

 resort of Wild Geese. 



I have shot the Pink Footed Wild Goose f Anser Irachyrynchus) 

 at Fenton-barns, as well as the Bean Goose, but I have not seen 

 the Gray Lag Goose (Anser ferus) there. 



94. Sheldrake. Tadorna vulpanser. Small flocks of this 

 beautiful bird have occasionally been observed on the Tweed 

 here, in severe weather, about the end of winter. They were 

 invariably very wild and shy. 



95. Wild Duck. Anas boschas. The common Wild Duck 

 frequents the Tweed and the Whiteadder in the neighbourhood 

 of Paxton, in moderate numbers. One of their favourite resorts 

 in the evenings to feed is at " Orrit," a small island in the 

 Tweed, a short distance below Gainslaw House, where there is 

 a considerable quantity of weeds about the side of the river. 

 Another spot where Ducks may be found in the evenings and 

 mornings, is at the side of the Tweed not far from the boat-house 

 in Paxton House Policy, where rushes and other water plants 

 abound. Wild Ducks often sit during the day time on the 

 Whiteadder, near Paxton Tilework, and numbers feed on the 

 haugh above Clarabad Mill at night. The gamekeeper at Pax- 

 ton and I discovered a Wild Duck's nest in the steep bank of the 

 Whiteadder, near Clarabad Quarry, on the 19th of April, 1873 

 It had thirteen eggs, and as the bank at the place was very steep, 

 the young ducks, when they were hatched, would have consider- 

 able difficulty in getting down to the water in safety. I have 

 found that one of the most successful ways to shoot Wild Ducks, 

 is to go to their feeding places in search of them very early in 

 the morning, before it is quite light. They are generally at that 

 time close in at the river's edge, amongst the rushes, and allow 

 the sportsman to get near before they fly up. A pair or two of 

 Wild Ducks generally breed at " Orrit," and there is occasionally 

 a single brood in a large ditch on Nabdean Farm, which runs 

 into the Mill Pond. During the very severe frost and snow in 

 December last, small numbers of Wild Ducks frequented Nabdean 

 Pond at night, being attracted there by the quacking of a flock 

 of Call Ducks (Anas allector) which lives on the pond. 



96. Teal. Anas crecca. The Teal is not often seen about 

 Paxton. Several were killed on the Tweed here, three or four 



