1891. Scotland.
Sept. 10
(No. 4)
Edinburgh. - to the ground, usually alighting and pecking
at the ground once or twice but occasionally picking
up the mors[e]l without materially checking this speed.
I concluded that they preying on both worms and
insects.
  The birds in the main body were evidently resting
and many of them appeared to sleeping. As far as
I could make out there were three species among
them; canus, ridibundus, and argentatus. The first
were the most numerous.
  I noticed that many of the flying birds followed 
the outline of the woods closely just as if the
trees represented a shore line and the field a
lake or bay. It was a fascinating sight for their
snowy plumage contrasted strongly with the green
slopes of the field and the still darker green of
the trees. There were many Rooks with them.
  One Rook while flying directly over us, low
down, uttered first the usual hoarse caw and then
repeatedly a shrill clew, clew, clew exactly like
that of a Herring Gull, from which species it
probably heard the cry through association.
  A stone building on the banks of a stream
near a bridge over which we passed had many
nests of the Martin built close up under the
eaves. There were a dozen or more Martins
flying about and I saw several of them go
to the nests and apparently feed young in them.
There were also a good many Swallows flying 
about over the lawns. In England they seem
to skim the turf closely in all kinds of