Movements of Birds on Migration at Chirnside. 175 



eat them with relish. Now they have spread over a larger area of 

 conntry ; and in a field of oats adjoining the village, when cutting 

 was in progress, about thirty were killed by the harvesters. Among 

 them were about a dozen of pied specimens ; two most symmetrically 

 marked, I sent to Mr Eagle Clarke of the Science and Art Museum, 

 Edinburgh, who had them mounted in the collection there. They 

 were most beautiful little animals, and well worth preservation. Their 

 destructive habits render them pests near gardens or corn fields. In 

 an outside garden here they ate up the tubers of the Jerusalem 

 Artichokes ; also Beets, Carrots, and Parsnips. In self defence the 

 mole catcher soon caught most of them, but a few still remain. I 

 am informed many have been trapped all over the parish. 



Stoats and "Weasels are also scarce in this district, and also owing 

 to this a great increase has taken place with the Common Rat, Voles, 

 and Field Mice. The Rat in many places becomes a serious iiuisance, 

 as many as 1500 having been killed at one farm in this neighbourhood 

 in a few weeks. The Rats took possession of the Rabbit burrows in 

 the hedgerows ; becoming partially carnivorous. Their beaten paths 

 over soft ground to the nearest water showed how numerous they 

 were. They established themselves near stacks of grain situated in 

 the fields. This was especially the case if these stacks were near water. 

 An intelligent farmer does all he can to encourage Stoats and Weasels near 

 his stackyard, as no animals clear off Rats and Mice in as short a time. 



Since November the Hawk tribe seem as plentiful as ever, especially 

 Kestrels and Sparrow Hawks. Do they come as migrants or to fill 

 up the blanks left by their predecessors ? A rather uncommon 

 specimen of the Sparrow Hawk was lately shot by the keeper at 

 Edington Hill. An immature female ; top of the head, wings, back, 

 and tail bufE colour ; chin, cheeks, and breast cream colour ; under 

 tail coverts white, irides yellow ; legs and feet yellow. This bird is 

 preserved by Mr Jackson of Newcastle, and belongs to Mr Arch 

 Steele of Kelso. A good specimen of the Peregrine Falcon was found 

 dead on the farm of Whiterig, near Ayton, and is preserved there. 

 It came by its death owing to having eaten a Rabbit seasoned with 

 strychnia! A nest containing four young Peregrines was robbed by 

 a native of Eyemouth, who went over a cliff near that place, with 

 a rope, and secured the young. Two were sold to a man in Duns. 

 The Edington keeper has another ; the fourth was sold to a stranger. 

 It is a grievous pity to molest this noble bird, which is yearly 

 becoming scarcer. When at Fast Castle this season, I could never 

 get my eye on the Peregrine, although the birds nested regularly 

 in the cliffs there every year; but the nest near Eyemouth may have 

 been that of the Fast Castle pair. 



More than one Hen Harrier has been lately seen since the specimen 

 shot by Mr Walker, Edington. Also one was seen hunting on the banks of 

 the Eye at Butterdean, near Grant's House, by Mr Robert Cowe. 



The Pink-footed Goose, Anser hrachryhynchus, is the species which 

 is seen for the most part on migration in the Eastern Borders. The 



