1334 Birds. 



Reed Bunting, Emberiza Schceniclus. Is partially migratory, the 

 main body departs in October, and returns in March. 



Skylark, Alauda arvensis. Departs from this and all the interior 

 parishes of the county about the middle of December, and returns by 

 the end of January or beginning of February, and shortly joins 

 the vernal chorus of the song-thrush, chaffinch, and hedge-chanter ; a 

 few individuals will remain behind their fellows in the interior : 

 whence the main body departs for so short a season can only be sur- 

 mised. I have looked narrowly to the comparative numbers found on 

 the sea-bound farms throughout the year, but I cannot state whether 

 or not the exiles from the interior take up their residence there ; I have 

 some good grounds for believing that they depart for the milder re- 

 gions of the south. 



Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis. Comes down in large flocks 

 in the cultivated fields from the Lammermoors in August and the two 

 following months, very few haunt the hills throughout the year ; they 

 are by no means so numerous during midwinter as they are in March 

 and April, when their presence and call-notes give additional charm 

 to the season. I feel assured then that they are also migrants 

 or shifters to a partial extent. 



Lapwing, Vanellus cristatus. Departs from our cultivated fields 

 late in October, and after lingering on our sea-coast for a short period 

 the flocks depart, and we see no more of them till March, about 

 the time that we sow field beans, when they once more haunt the 

 sea-shore for a few days previous to dispersing over the country, but 

 a late snow storm drives them back to the coast for food. I learn 

 from the list of winter birds found in the Hebrides and in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Edinburgh, as given in Professor Macgillivray's work, 

 (vol. i.) " that this bird is a permanent resident in the Western Isles, 

 and is common on the shores of the Firth of Forth, near Granton, and 

 on the plains of Corstorphine, in the neighbourhood of the city." 



Curlew, Numenius arquata. Leaves the Lammermoors in strag- 

 gling parties early in August for the shores of the Firth ; a few birds 

 may spend a day or two in some pasture field in the interior when on 

 their way to the coast, where they feed along the tide-way, and along 

 shore, and in the neighbouring fields till the season of love recals 

 them to their summer haunts : this return movement takes place 

 in April. 



The above list is confessedly incomplete, especially as regards 

 water birds. There are many difficulties attendant upon the study of 

 their habits and distribution, however the result of the labours of the 



