322 BIRDS OF LAUDERDALE 



marshes — Legerwood — is ciuite near iis, and through the long 

 summer twilight the birds hawk our fields, especially those with 

 trees about them, for the Ghost Moth (hfepialus h'limuli). In 

 winter, other birds fi-om the sea visit us. Passing Wild Geese 

 and varieties of Duck appear crossing overhead in little 

 companies to show that we are on one line of flight — from the 

 Firth of Forth and the North Sea by St. Mary's Loch to the 

 Solway. Shepherds have told me too, that they have seen 

 Wild Swans winging their way over the upper moors. 



Fieldfare, Redwing, and Brambling reach us in large 

 numbers every autunm. A winter never seems to pass with- 

 out a visit from the Great Grey Shrike. Three winters in 

 succession 1 have seen it in the parish, sometimes for weeks. 

 A line of telegraph wire along the public road is this bird's 

 most frequent place of resort. Its general appeara.nce and 

 flight make it easily recognisable. A sj)ecimen was shot 

 some time since in the Manse grounds. The less common 

 Waxwing has also been met with in the district. Two lovely 

 birds may be seen preserxed in a town collection. They were 

 first noticed on a hawthorn tree within the grounds of Harry- 

 burn. Word was brought by the man who saw them to one of 

 our townsjDeople interested in birds. When he came with 

 his single-barrelled gun, they were still in the same place. He 

 shot one of them without appearing to alarm the other bird, 

 which continued flying about the tree until it also fell to 

 the gun. One cannot he]}) regretting that such should be 

 the fate of so many of our rarest visitors. 



Other unconnnon kinds no doubt occur, but escape notice. 

 One day in the garden, I heard the shai'p shrill ' tsit ' ' tsit ' 

 of a bird from the air above. It was passing among others, 

 and from its note must have been either- the Little or the 

 Rustic Bunting The ChiffchafF, the Pied Flycatcher, and 

 Grasshopper- Warbler have not yet to my knowledge been 

 recorded ; but the nature of the country leads one to hope that 

 they, too, may some day find a place among the recognised 

 summer bird visitors to Lauderdale. 



