Ornithological Notes, by Robert Gray, F.R.S.E. 465 



Green Sandpiper. — (Totanus ochropus ) Since my last commu- 

 nication, I have learned that the Green Sandpiper is a frequent, 

 if not a regular, visitant to Mid Lothian. One, which I have ex- 

 amined, was shot by Col. Gillon, on the margin of Linlithgow 

 Loch, in the end of September, 1875, and another was seen in its 

 company. 



Rttfe. — (Machetes pugnax.) Is found in small flocks on the 

 shores of the Frith of Forth, but is met with in greater numbers 

 in the estuary further inland than Queensferry, as many as a 

 dozen in a flock being observed on the mud banks near Grange- 

 mouth, where my friend, Mr Harvie Browne, on a recent occa- 

 sion, shot five birds out of a single flock. 



Bean Goose. — (Anser segetum?) This bird seems to have been 

 very scarce during the winter of 1874-75 ; — the Pink-footed Goose 

 having apparently taken its place. Unusual numbers of the 

 latter bird have been seen and killed in Berwickshire and East 

 Lothian ; and even in Stirlingshire where it has hitherto been a 

 comparative stranger. 



Common Shelldrake. — (Tadorna Vulpanser.) Eight or ten pairs 

 of this beautiful bird still breed annually on Inch Mickery. They 

 were seen there on 4th June, 1875. Shelldrakes are still com- 

 mon on the shell banks on the estuary of the Forth, near Grange- 

 mouth, where at full tide they come quite near the beach. 



Ttjeted Duck. — (Fuligula cristata.) The Tufted Duck will, in all 

 likelihood, be found breeding in Berwickshire and the adjoining 

 counties, if carefully looked for. In May, 1875, a nest with ten 

 eggs was found on a small island in a lake in Fifeshire. The 

 eggs were taken and placed under a barn-door fowl ; they were 

 all hatched, and five of the birds grew up — one, a female, being 

 still alive, and in the possession of Mr A. B. Herbert, of Trinity 

 Lodge, who exhibited the bird at a meeting of the Royal Physical 

 Society, Edinburgh. 



Goosander. — (Mergus Merganser.) This handsome bird has 

 been very plentiful in Berwickshire and the Lothians during the 

 present season. Eleven specimens — seven males and four females 

 — were sent to Mr Small, for preservation, in the last week of 

 January, 1876. Two were shot, and another seen, at Broxmouth, 

 near Dunbar, in December last, and another was killed at North 

 Berwick, in the same month. The Goosander is now known to 

 breed regularly in Perthshire. 



Eared Grebe. — (Podiceps auritus.) Although perhaps the rarest 

 of the British Grebes, this species seems to occur regularly every 

 winter, in suitable localities, along shore between Berwick and 

 Belhaven sands. It is also found higher up the Firth. I lately 

 examined two specimens that were shot in the Forth, in Decem- 

 ber, 1874. I have never met with Eared Grebes in the breeding 

 plumage, on the east-coast. 



