The Scottish Naturalist. 
the same county in June, 1845, and in the years 1863-4. The 
occurrences being almost all in summer show that the birds 
visit us in the breeding season, and would probably nest if un- 
molested. 
Peregrine Falcon {Falco peregHnus). The Peregrine does 
not breed nearer to Melrose than the Cheviots, where one pair still 
lingers, but it used to do so at the head of Moffatdale, and until 
1873a nesting site was annually occupied, according to Mr. Andrew 
Kelly, on the Longcroft water near Lauder. It is well known that 
this fine hawk still has one eyrie on the Berwickshire coast, where 
four were tenanted in 1850; though Cheviot is the sole re- 
maining spot in North Northumberland where a pair can be found 
at the present time. 
Red Footed Falcon {Falco rufipes). Not recorded from, 
the district, though a specimen was once obtained at Hauxley 
in Northumberland {Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, v., p. 469). 
Hobby {Falco subhiteo). This hawk is very uncommon on the 
Border, but nevertheless examples are regularly met with in various 
places, generally in June ; the bird may breed with us occa- 
sionally, or would do so annually if undisturbed. Instances of its 
capture have occurred at Lauder, Branxholm, Duns, Bowmont 
Forest, Kelso, and other localities. 
Merlin (Falco cesalon). Like the Peregrine Falcon, the 
Merlin is found breeding at a few spots on the Cheviot range, 
and is a well-known bird to the shepherds, though many of them 
confound it with the Cuckoo. No instance of its nesting on the 
lower hills of that range is, apparently, recorded ; but it is not 
uncommon in a few parts of the Lammermuirs, near Lauder, 
where it is said to nest, as a rule, on trees. This statement rests 
-on the authority of Messrs. Scott and Kelly. {^Hist. Ber. Nat. 
Club., vii., p. 301.) 
Kestrel ( Falco tinnunculus ). Near Melrose itself, this bird is 
comparatively scarce, its place being taken by the much more 
abundant Sparrow-Hawk ; but in the lower ground around 
Jedburgh the reverse is the case. This is probably due to the 
nature of each district, and to the consequent food supply; possibly 
also to the greater abundance of suitable nesting sites for the 
-Kestrel in the latter part of the country. In Peeblesshire the bird 
is now rare, and in Lauderdale it is almost extinct, while it is 
-always less abundant in the hilly portions of the Border. It 
