220 Birds, 



These notes were made solely for my own amusement ; and having more important 

 matters to attend to, it is impossible, during this busy season, to command much time 

 for such delightful recreations. Let these considerations plead some apology for the' 

 meagerness and unsatisfactory nature of this paper. The localities haunted by some 

 of the birds not mentioned above, are situated at a considerable distance from my re- 

 sidence, whilst others are comparatively rare in this county, or I have failed to observe 

 the date of their arrival in the two years specified. I have therefore endeavoured to 

 supply the deficiency, by giving a few general or comparative dates. 



Night-jar arrives the fourth week in May to the first week in June. 



Ring-ouzel, second or third week in April. 



Grey flycatcher, ... fourth week in May to first week in June. 



Wheatear first or second week in April. 



Lesser whitethroat second or third week in May. 



Tree pipit first or second week in May. 



I have only once heard the grasshopper warbler in this neighbourhood. My friend, 

 Mr. John MacGillivray, who is now exploring the interior of Java, found a nest, con- 

 taining four eggs, of the marsh reedling {Calamoherpe arundinacea) near a pond in this 

 neighbourhood, which, contrary to its usual custom, was built on the ground : it is an 

 extremely rare bird in Scotland. The pied wagtail departs annually about the mid- 

 dle of October, and commonly returns in the second or third week in March ; whilst 

 the grey wagtail {Motacilla Boarula) is a constant winter resident. The observations 

 of my friend, Mr. A. Jerdon, of Boujedward, Roxburghshire, coincide with this state- 

 ment ; whereas Prof. MacGillivray, in his admirable ' History of British Birds,' re- 

 marks, — " From the middle division of Scotland, it shifts southward in the end of 

 autumn, and even from the southern division the greater part migrate, although it is 

 not uncommon to meet with individuals about Edinburgh through the winter and 

 spring," — (ii. 240). This is one of the many curious facts elicited by local observa- 

 tion, for which it is impossible to account. The yellow wagtail is a very rare straggler : 

 the reed-bunting is a winter resident, but most of them go south in autumn : the 

 quail occurs only as a rare straggler in this neighbourhood, but in two or three of 

 our sea-coast parishes it is an annual visitant, arriving about the end of May. Most 

 of our summer birds leave this county in September. In the above-mentioned 

 volume of Prof. MacGillivray's work, will be found a very accurate and instructive 

 paper on "The Summer Birds of the Lothians." — Archibald Hepburn ; Whittingham, 

 May 1, 1843. 



Note on the arrival of some of the Summer Birds at Boujedward, near Jedburgh. 



1841. 1842. 1841. 1842. 



Swift, May 2 May 1 Garden warbler May 18 May 13 



Swallow April 27 April 29 Black-cap ditto May 5 April 22 



House martin May 8 May 23 Whitethroat May 5 May 3 



Bank martin April 27 April 27 Yellow wood-wren May 6 April 30 



Cuckoo May 18 May 2 Willow wood-wren April 27 April 23 



Grey fly-catcher May 12 June 10 Tree pipit April 30 April 27 



The house-martins were scarce in 1842, and the grey fly-catcher very early in 1841. 

 — Archibald Jerdon ; Boujedivard, near Jedburgh, May 2, 1843. 



Note on the arrival of Summer Birds near Leicester. I have more than once made 

 up my mind to throw off' a few rough notes on the habits of our woodland birds, in or- 

 der that you might transcribe them into the pages of ' The Zoologist ^ ' but " non ge- 



