Volume 9 - Electric Scotland

182 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY
base ;
on the under surface the fur is slate or light leaden colour.
Two Renfrewshire specimens in the Museum, taken at the harbour
on the White Cart, Paisley, are velvet black on their upper parts
and light ash below. The hair on both these Rats is
very fine, and
contrasts with the long, rough appearance of the Orkney " Blue Rat."
-J. M. B. TAYLOR, Free Museum, Paisley.
1
Remarkable Flocking of Starlings to Cramond Island. For
several years past, in the autumn and winter months, large flocks of
Starlings have been in the habit of roosting in a small plantation of
dwarf Scotch firs on Cramond Island. Last year, however, their
numbers exceeded anything previously seen, and the coming and
going of the Starlings to their island home excited general attention
and much interest in the neighbourhood. The birds seemed to
have some gathering-place farther inland, and passed overhead at
night generally in one large flock, and the noise of their wings was
like the first
sweeping blast of a storm of wind. No matter what
the weather was, they made their nightly trip across the waters of
the Firth ;
and I have watched them battling against an easterly gale,
when they had to fly so low as to nearly touch the water, and some
weaker ones were driven back to shore. In the winter mornings
they appeared to leave in separate bands, and each to make for
different feeding-grounds. On Saturday, the 2yth January, I walked
over to the island to watch the arrival of the birds. Mr. Peter
Hogg, who resides on the island, accompanied me to the wood, and
we got under cover at 4.30 P.M., about the time the first Starlings
were due to arrive. The state of the branches of the trees and the
droppings of the birds on the ground afforded unmistakable evidence
of the immense numbers frequenting the spot. Soon after, the first
batch of birds arrived and settled in the far end of the plantation
as close as they could perch, and began their peculiar whistling
chatter, making a din not easily described. Another large flock then
appeared, and with a swoop they settled down near the others, until
it seemed as if the trees could not hold any more. Every few minutes
there was a succession of smaller flocks that swooped down in a
similar manner until the whole plantation was one living mass of birds,
some of which perched within touching distance of our hands. The
birds all came from the south shore, and the large flocks which I
had been in the habit of watching were only part of the colony.
After the Starlings had all arrived we emerged into the open. It
seemed a pity to disturb them, but a shot fired into the air raised
such a cloud of birds that in trying to estimate their number I could
not say Mr. Hogg's words seemed an exaggeration when he said
there were " millions of them."
Even more remarkable than the vast numbers of Starlings
frequenting the island during the winter months, is the large
numbers which have continued to flock there during the breeding