3G4 Ornithological Notes. By George Bolam. 



Fork-tailed Petrel. Oceanodroma leucorrhoa, Vieillot. 



The storms of the latter part of September 1891 interfered with the 

 migration of many birds, and amongst these none seem to have suffered 

 more than these little wanderers from mid-ocean. Driven from the 

 Atlantic upon our western coasts, they were scattered over the whole 

 kingdom, and in many cases carried by the wind far inland, or blown right 

 across the country. Numerous Petrels were picked up in our dirtrict, but 

 where an examination of the birds has not been made, it is possible that 

 they may not all have belonged to this species. 



Of well authenticated examples, one brought to Berwick, in the first 

 week in October, was said to have been caught by a clergyman on the 

 banks of the .Jed, another which was seen in its company, escaping by 

 taking wing. Two others, picked up on the Tweed, the one at VVhitmuir- 

 haugh, the other on Wooden Anna, I saw in Mr A. Steel's collection at 

 Kelso. One, on 15th October, was discovered on the banks of the Till, at 

 Fowberry Tower, another was found dead upon a sheaf of corn in a field 

 on Heiferlaw Bank Farm near Alnwick, on 31st of the same month ; while 

 two or three more were sent to Edinburgh for preservation, from the 

 neighbourhood of Kelso. 



About the same time a Petrel of some kind was caught alive at 

 Coldstream, and others said to be " Stormy Petrels" were obtained at the 

 Hirsel, and near Wormerlaw. On 3rd October I was told by Wilson at the 

 Old Law that he had tried, a day or two before, to catch one of these birds, 

 which came into his boat, and apparently wished to seek shelter there, but 

 which ultimately made off ; and at same time, one at least, was seen by 

 the Holy Island fishermen. 



Grkat Northern Diver. Colymhus glacialis, Linnaeus. 

 Visits us pretty regularly in winter, and may often bo met with along 

 the coast, but it rather inclines to fish in deeper water than its smaller 

 congeners, and seldom ventures so near the shore. At Holy Island, and 

 off the mouth of the Tweed, in early morning, a single bird, or a pair, may 

 frequently be seen, birds of the year in immature plumage being most 

 prevalent, but they are always rare enough to attract attention, and it is 

 only occasionally that one is captured. In 1890-91, however, they were 

 present in unusual numbers, and several adult birds were recorded as 

 having been killed. In company with the two smaller kinds of Divers 

 and many Grebes, they first appeared towards the end of October : my 

 first note being on 21st of that month, when a very large immature male, 

 weighing 8| lbs., was sent to me from near Holy Island. Three were seen 

 together resting upon the water near the lighthouse at Berwick on the 

 29th, and subsequently many immature birds came under notice, both 

 here and at Holy Island. On 31st October, a person living at Beal brought 

 to me a fine adult bird in nearly perfect plumage, which had been picked 

 up alive, but in a disabled condition, upon the sands between that place 

 and Holy Island : and on 10th January 1891, a bird, which from the 

 description given seems to have been adult, was fired at by a Berwick 



