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THE ORNITHOLOGY OF UPPER COQUETDALE. 



By ABEL CHAPMAN, 



Silkswort/i Hall, Sttnderlmid; Member of the British Ornithologists Union. 



In reference to Mr. Cordeaux's Notes on Upper Coquetdale, 

 perhaps the following few observations may be of interest to the 

 readers of the Naturalist. They are offered with all deference to 

 Mr. Cordeaux's well-known scientific attainments, and with a view 

 to prevent misconceptions as regards certain birds of that locaHty, 

 which a perusal of the Notes in question appears to invite. I should 

 mention that for a long period I have taken the greatest interest in 

 the bird-life of the border moorlands, and for the last ten years have 

 shot over an extensive tract of fell in the immediate neighbourhood 

 referred to by Mr. Cordeaux, during which time I have accumulated 

 a considerable series of observations at all seasons. 

 Ealco peregrinus Tunst. Peregrine Falcon. 



I have never seen this bird except in autumn and winter, and 



then only rarely. 

 Turdus torquatus L. Ring Ouzel. 



One of the commonest moor-breeding birds, arriving at the 



end of March or early in April. 

 Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechst.). Wood Wren. 



Breeds in the woods on the fell-sides, up to a considerable 



elevation. 



Motacilla melanope Pall. Gray Wagtail. 



Some remain throughout the winter in mild seasons such as 

 the present. Last week, when finishing the grouse season, I 

 noticed two or three of them still running about the burn-sides. 

 Linota flavirostris L. Twite. 



Breeds among the heather, though not abundantly. 

 Columba cenas L. Stockdove. 



Breeds regularly. Several of the crags on my ground are 

 occupied by a pair or two, which arrive there in March. These 

 crags are often far out on the moors, and the Ringdove never 

 breeds in such places. I never saw the latter breed in a sheer 

 crag, though they occasionally do so in an ivy-grown cliff or 

 scaur. 



Totanus calidris (L.). Redshank. 



Breeds in scattered pairs all over the moorland district. In 

 some of the low-lying rushy ' haughs ' as many as half a dozen 

 pairs, or more, may be found nesting together, along with Snipes 

 and Lapwings. ______ 



Naturalist, 



