38 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



swimming Guillemot, with half-closed wings, on the point of 

 diving, strike one as being all very true to nature. The letter- 

 press which accompanies each plate, though often brief, is gene- 

 rally to the point, and often embodies some little fact worth 

 noting. Mrs. Blackburn has lived long enough in Moidart to 

 have observed some curious changes in the avifauna of the 

 district. For example, Thrushes are much more numerous now, 

 at Koshven, than they used to be, probably owing to the increase 

 of cultivation and extension of garden ground. Forty years ago 

 there were no Starlings in the neighbourhood. At first they began 

 to appear at intervals, resting temporarily upon the islands ; now 

 a good many stay all the year round, and live in the dovecot with 

 the Pigeons. When the author first came to reside in the 

 district (1856) Sparrows were unknown there, now they are 

 common ; while the Yellowhammer, once more plentiful, has of 

 late years decreased in numbers. The Brambling or Mountain 

 Finch, although figured from a caged specimen, has not been 

 detected in Moidart, and the Goldfinch has been observed only 

 once. "It used to be common in the wild parts of Kirkcud- 

 brightshire when there was less cultivation and fewer plantations." 

 A curious habit of the Starling is noticed which we do not 

 remember to have seen elsewhere recorded. A bird of this 

 species was observed to run about on the gravel and insert 

 its beak under loose stones, when by opening it wide it would, 

 after the manner of a Turnstone, raise a pebble, and search 

 beneath it for worms and insects. Respecting the habits of the 

 Hooded Crow, she remarks : — " I have more than once observed 

 these birds eating the berries of the mountain ash off the trees 

 growing near the sea-shore, where there was apparently abundance 

 of more congenial food.'' Their taste for these berries does not 

 seem to be generally known. 



Another observation that is new to us refers to the partiality 

 evinced by the Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) for the flowers 

 of the horse-chestnut. In the south of Scotland these birds are 

 numerous ; and Mrs. Blackburn has heard a tradition there 

 to the effect that " they used in old times to build their nests on 

 the ground ; but their young having been so often destroyed by 

 passing cattle, they took to nesting on trees. From that safe 

 altitude they now shout to their former enemies in triumphant 

 defiance, ' Coo-coo, come noo } come noof" This recalls to mind 



