| East Coast of Scotland. | |||||||||
| 1879, | '80, | '81, | '82. | ||||||
| * | * | 4. | North Uist, Shetland | 230 ft. | |||||
| * | * | * | 5. | Whalsey Skerries, Shetland | 145 | " | Nevin Kerr. | ||
| * | 6. | Bressay, Shetland | 105 | " | |||||
| * | * | * | * | 7. | Sumburgh Head, Shetland | 300 | " | J. Wilson. | |
| 7B. | Fair Isle | ? | " | ||||||
| Orkney. | |||||||||
| * | * | * | * | 8. | North Ronaldshay | 140 | " | John Tulloch. | |
| 9. | Start Point | 80 | " | ||||||
| * | * | * | * | 10. | Auskerry | 110 | " | J. Macdonald. | |
| 11. | Hoy Sound (Low) | 55 | " | ||||||
| 12. | Hoy Sound (High) | 115 | " | ||||||
| 13. | Cantick Head | 115 | " | ||||||
| * | * | * | * | 14. | Pentland Skerries | 170 | " | D. MacDonald. | |
| Mainland. | |||||||||
| * | * | * | 15. | Dunnet Head, Caithness | 346 | " | D. Laidlaw. | ||
| 16. | Holborn Head, Caithness | 75 | " | ||||||
| 17. | Noss Head, Caithness | 175 | " | ||||||
| 18. | Tarbat Ness, East Ross | 175 | " | ||||||
| * | * | 19. | Cromarty, East Cromarty | 60 | " | R. S. Ritson. | |||
| * | 20. | Chanonry Point, Elgin | 40 | " | John McGill. | ||||
| 21. | Covesea Skerries, Elgin | 160 | " | ||||||
| (a) | 22. | Kinnaird Head, Aberdeen | 120 | " | D. M Scott. | ||||
| 23. | Buchan Ness, Aberdeen | 130 | " | ||||||
| * | 24. | Girdleness, Aberdeen | 185 | " | |||||
| 25. | Montroseness, Aberdeen | 124 | " | "No birds." | |||||
| * | * | * | * | 26. | Bell Rock, Fife Coast | 93 | " | James Jack. | |
| * | * | * | * | 27. | Isle of May, Firth of Forth | 240 | " | J. Agnew. | |
| * | * | * | 28. | Inch Keith, Firth of Forth | 220 | " | R. Grierson. | ||
| 29. | St. Abb's Head, Berwick | 224 | " | ||||||
(a) Describes a bird but no schedule.
It will be seen from the above that there is a long extent of coast-line whence I have scarcely received any returns since the beginning of the scheme, viz., in Aberdeenshire. Is this always due to actual scarcity of birds there, or to want of observing and recording? I cannot tell, as I never receive any communications positive or negative from these stations, except from Girdleness, whence last year I had a brief return. At Montroseness scarcity of birds, indeed almost utter absence, is the reason of no returns in most years, and we can hardly ever expect much from it owing to its position—"So near the town and all the paraphernalia of commerce," as Mr. P. E. Reid, the lighthouse-keeper, informs me. He says, "I have never been at a station where fewer birds come near the light; not over half a dozen for the past year, and these were, we suspect. Gulls." At Noss Head, Mr. Alex. Greig, not knowing the names of some of the birds, thought it "better not to send in a report that would be incorrect"; but if he sends me in a report on those he does know the name of; or some dates, and the winds prevailing at the time of great rushes of birds, without the names of the birds, such would be very useful. "Small birds" or "large birds" have a value to me in recording, though the names are not given. That a migration was observable in 1882 at Noss Head is a fact, obtained from Mr. Greig's reply to my post-card, and may prove a useful fact in arriving some day at conclusions.
I fear it is not to be expected that we get any returns from the Whaling Captains, the arduous duties they are engaged in making them always too glad of complete rest when obtainable. Our thanks are due to Mr. T. Southwell, however, for speaking to some of them on the subject; our own application, by distributing circulars at Dundee with the assistance of Mr. P. Henderson, naturalist of that town, not having produced any results.
I have received occasional notes from Mr. Anderson's log, through Mr. R. Gray (see [Gannet], &c.). Mr. Anderson has again taken duty on an Atlantic Liner, after a temporary engagement in the Mediterranean, so we may hope to hear further of him and his observations.
As before, notes I have received from other sources besides the lighthouses I will enter after the paragraphs on each species or group. These are to be taken simply as corroborative evidence, or otherwise, of the lighthouse reports, or as supplementary to them.
Notes have been kept upon about twenty-two species of Waterfowl fifty-three species of land birds, and about eight or ten species of littoral birds or waders, by our reporters on the East Coast.
Spring Migration I have kept distinct in this Report.
I have not given compiled notes on weather in this place this year, as all that requires to be said will be found under the treatment of the species, and a short paragraph under General Remarks.
The whole space of time included by our 1882 returns runs from February in spring onwards, and in autumn from July to January 27th, 1883, the date of the last returned schedules. In the General Remarks I notice briefly the spring migration of 1883—at Isle of May, &c.