Notes on the recent Immigration of Mealy Redpolls. 197 



captured by the local bird-catchers, Mr L. N. G. Eamsay informs me (in litt. 

 13. 1. 1911) that on October 21st he saw a flock of fifteen to twenty on Old 

 Aberdeen links ; on the 23rd, three small parties, and on the 30th, several 

 larger ones. 



Correspondents in Montrose inform me of their presence around there in 

 abundance during October — nothing like it since 1863. They speak of flocks 

 of fifty up to hundreds about the links, etc., and state that they were first 

 seen about the end of September, and entirely disappeared by the middle of 

 November ; but exact dates are not now obtainable. Many were captured. 



Eeports from St Andrews show them to have been plentiful in October in 

 that district also. On the 28th, Misses Baxter and Rintoul met with a flock 

 of about fifty at Carvenom. But prior to that Miss Baxter had seen them on 

 the south coast of Fife, viz., one near Largo on October 22nd, and four 

 between Fifeness and Crail on the 24th (in litt. 19th and 21st Jan.). 



On the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, two Mealy Redpolls 

 were seen on October 14th, and one on the 16th, by Misses Baxter and 

 Rintoul, as recorded in this month's Annals of Scottish Natural History. 

 On two or three occasions, from about the 22nd of October till the beginning 

 of November, numbers were present on the island — they are reported as 

 particularly plentiful on October 31st, on which day there were also many on 

 the Bass Rock (fide J. M. Campbell). 



This brings us to the Lothians on the south side of the Firth of Forth, 

 where they made their appearance in unprecedented numbers, and were taken 

 in hundreds by the bird-catchers at many points along their lines of flight. 

 Although it has been impossible to obtain precise evidence of their movements 

 from place to place, the inquiries I have made in various quarters, go to show 

 that a large proportion of the arrivals occurred on that part of the coast 

 lying between North Berwick and Longniddry, the general trend of their 

 course being then in a westerly or south-westerly direction, the flocks passing 

 on after longer or shorter halts from one suitable feeding ground to another. 

 While many adhered to the coast-line, proceeding almost due west past 

 Musselburgh, Edinburgh (north side), Bo'ness, etc., others took south-westerly 

 or inland courses, folloAving roughly the valleys of the Tyne, the two Esks, 

 Eddleston Water, the Water of Leith, and so on ; but records from the south 

 and west of Edinburgh are scanty. Nor were they much in evidence to the 

 south-east of North Berwick, that is round by Dunbar, etc.; from which it 

 would appear that few turned in that direction, or came in on that part of the 

 coast. Indeed, my only definite records from there are : — A party of six or 

 seven near Tantallon Castle about the end of October, two (ad. $ shot) at 

 Scoughall, two got at Barnsness, south of Dunbar, on 24th and 25th October 



