Io8 CORDEAUX : ORNITHOLOGY OF COQUETDALE. 



Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus L. 



Very common. 

 Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus L. 



Not uncommon. 

 Kestrel, Falco tinnnnculus L. 



The same, and the most frequently seen. 



Peregrine, Falco peregrinus Tunstall. 



Is frequently seen. I have little doubt may yet be found 

 nesting in the wilder recesses of the hills. 



Merlin, F. sesalon Tunst. 



Certainly the commonest of the smaller raptores both on 

 the moors and in the hill district. When fishing the higher 

 waters of the Coquet I used constantly to see this pretty little 

 falcon. A favourite haunt appeared to be in the rowans planted 

 for shelter round the houses of the shepherds. Near the house 

 at Trowsburn I saw two or three young birds in the trees. 

 Compared with both the Sparrowhawk and Kestrel the Merlin 

 seems very tame, taking little heed of the solitary fisherman or 

 pedestrian. I frequently saw them on the moors near Harbottle 

 Lough : and on one occasion saw the male bird attack a young 

 Heron, which it fairly drove, with much remonstrative croaking, 

 from the vicinity. 



Heron, Ardea cinerea L. 



In the East Wood at Harbottle, is a heronry numbering twenty 

 or thirty nests. The wood consists almost entirely of Scotch 

 firs, and the nests are much scattered, as only such trees are 

 chosen as have broken tops, affording a flat platform for the 

 superincumbent mass of sticks. At this date (June 30th) some 

 young were in the nest, which the keeper said were a secon<l 

 brood ; also some fresh egg-shells below the trees. The castings 

 beneath the firs on which the herons nested consisted mainly of 

 the fur and bones of the water rat, remains of eels, and one small 

 trout. During the last year or two a small colony of about four 

 nests has been established in the West Wood. The heron seems 

 extremely common in the neighbourhood, resorting even to the 

 small burns in the recesses of the hills. 



Wild Duck, Anas boschas L. 



Not uncommon ; resorting in considerable numbers to Har- 

 bottle Lough in the winter. » 



Teal, Querquedula crecca L. 



I saw the female on Harbottle Lough, where she had evidently 

 a young brood in the reeds. 



Naturalist, 



