346 THE ZOOLOGIST 



Moulinearn, is occupied by a small settlement. Below the 

 alluvial cone the shingle forms a broad belt, backed by the steep 

 wooded slope of Logierait, and margined by three wooded 

 islands. These islands form local feeding-grounds. The 

 uppermost is a dense, natural wood, with wet sand-gullies and 

 pot-holes gouged out of the substratum by the winter floods. 

 The lower islands are flat, grass-grown and artificially wooded. 

 The Ballinluig area presents a sequence of appearances very 

 similar to that of Moulinearn. It also contains a plateau 

 planted with pines and having a turf layer on a clay substratum. 

 This station is of moderate size, and is subject to considerable 

 disturbance. 



The whole of the breeding territories and local feeding- 

 grounds lie between 60 and 105 metres above sea-level. The 

 76 metres contour line crosses the river at the upper part of the 

 Haugh area. 



Nesting is mostly confined to the shingle. At Moulinearn 

 and Ballinluig, however, more nests are seen on mud and turf, 

 due in the former place probably to carting of stones, and in the 

 latter to other human interference. Nesting far from the river is 

 rare. One instance came under notice. Towards the end of June a 

 chick, a few days old, was seen on the hillside above Dunfallandy 

 House. The chick must have belonged to a second, or possibly 

 a third, laying. 



The shingle shows few living invertebrate forms. At the 



time of the hatch, and possibly at other times, large quantities 



of Stonefly nymphs are to be found under stones at the water 



margin. These nymphs are fed extensively to the young during 



the early days. The local feeding-grounds, where in pasture 



and open to examination, are rich in tipulid and coleopterous 



larvae. The bulk of the worms comes from the arable land. 



Only the upper Logierait wooded island was examined. The 



substratum is sandy. Where the sand was dry, the nature of 



the food supply observed to be got by the birds could not 



be determined. The wet sand of the gullies and pot-holes 



contained an abundance of worms of sand and silt bottom 



formation. 



(To be continued.) 



