Scottish Birds
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SCOTTISH BIRDS THE JOURNAL OF THE SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' CLUB Volume 8 No. 8 WINTER 1975 Price 75p PINE CROSSBILLS A Scottish contribution by DESMOND NETHERSOLE-THOMPSON This new study by the author of The Greenshank, The Dotterel, Highland Birds, etc, is the product of field study and research for more than thirty years into the life style, ecology and origins of this especially interesting bird_ It is that all too rare book, a work of scholarship and research that is wholly readable, in which the author's delight in his chosen subject becomes the reader's, too_ Of especial interest is the author's well-reasoned case for considering the Scottish pine-feeding Crossbill as an emergent inter-species. There are line drawings by Donald Watson and 24 photographs. £5.00 net DUCKS OF BRITAIN AND EUROPE by M.A. OGILVIE All 41 species found in the wild are t reated under such headings as Behaviour, Breeding, Identification, Distributio n, etc. There are detailed descriptions of young, eclipse and adult birds, line drawings and in-flight recognition colour plates of male and female birds, plus 24 distribution maps. £5.00 net T&ADPOYSER 1976 SPECIAL INTEREST TOURS by PEREGRINE HOLIDAYS Directors: Raymond Hodgldns, MA. (Oxon) MTAI and Patrlcla Hoda'lt1nB, MTAI. All Tours by scheduled Air and Inclusive. All with guest lecturers and a tour manager. INDIA & NEPAL . .. Feb 14-29. .. Birds and Wildlife. John Gooders and Ray Hodgkins . £550. KASHMIR & KULU ... June 6-20. .. Birds and Flowers. Gooders, Huxley and Hodgkins . £585. SPRING IN ARGOUS ... March 22-31 ... Sites, Flowers, Leisure. Trevor Rowley, B.Litt, BA and Patricia Hodgkins . £128. CRETE . Apr 6·20 . Birds and Flowers . John Parrott, BSc (Aberdeen University) and Dr Humpbrey Bowen (Reading University) . .. £280. PEWPONNESE . Apr 6-20 . Birds and Flowers . Peter Conder (former Director RSPB) and Len Beer (Curator, Botanic Garden, Bangor) ... £280. PELOPONNESE & CRETE . May 24-Jun 7 . Sites and Flowers . Trevor Rowley, B.Litt, BA and Hugb Synge. BSc . £285. NORTHERN GREECE . Jun 9-23 . Flowers . Petros Broussalis, outstanding Greek botanist . £280. NEMRUT DAG, CAPPADOCIA, AEGEAN TURKEY ... May 5-19 ... Birds and Flowers . Dr Susan Coles and Michael Rowntree, MA . £350* AMAZON & GALAPAGOS ... Aug 9-28 .. Dr Chris Perrins (onord University) and Alien Paterson (Curator, Chelsea Physic Garden) ... £800* BIRDS OVER THE BOSPHORUS . Sept 22-29 . Repeat of success· ful 1975 tour ... Sir Hugh Elliott and Raymond Hodgkins ... £160* ETHIOPIA ... Birds and Wilderness ... Oct 5·19 ... A new tour to relatively untrodden areas surveyed by John Gooders in Oct 1975. Includes Omo National Park (Tented camp). Accompanied by J.G...• £450* AUTUMN IN ARGOUS • • • Sites . • . Leisure . Migrants . Oct 12.21 . Dr John Pinsent . An essential sequel to "Spring in Argolis". Should be excellent for Inigrants • . £135* (*Provisional) Brochures and information from PEREGRINE HOUDAYS at TOWN AND GOWN TRAVEL, 41 SOUTH PARADE, ... :a",- AGENTS SUMMERTOWN, OXFORD, !~A~:\ OX27JP. ~~<T """-' V ,$ Phone Oxford (0865) 511341·2·3 I, A.'" Fully Bonded Atol No. 275B BILL SIN CLAIR Wild Life sound recordist of the year recording Crested Tits at Landmark, Carrbrldge. Hear Slnclalr Sound In the new Multi Screen Wild Life Programme at : Lanclmarl=l CARRBRIDGE Inverness-shire Open all year. Tal. Carrbridga 613 EXHIBITION· MULTI-5CREEN THEATRE - BOOK & CRAFT SHOP RESTAURANT AND BAR - NATURE TRAIL - PICNIC AREA 1976 ORNITHOLIDAYS (Regd) (WESSEX TRAVEL CENTRE) Holidays organised by Birdwatchers for Birdwatchers SW Spain North Wales Yugoslavia West Sussex Lake Neusiedl Dorset Majorca Golsple Camargue Islay Vancouver & Mull The Rockies Shetland Austrian Alps New Forest Morocco Trinidad The Gambia Tobago Fame Islands Suffolk Isles of Scilly 1976 details of the Ornitholidays programme available now; particulars sent on receipt of 6ip stamp to : LAWRENCE G. HOLLOWAY ORNITHOLlDAYS (Regd) (WESSEX TRAVEL CENTRE) 44 ALDWICK ROAD, BOGNOR REGIS, SUSSEX, P021 2PW. Tel. 21230 MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH TRA VEL AGENTS OBSERVE & CONSERVE BINOCULARS TELESCOPES SPECIAL DISCOUNT OFFER oF ~~ 33 }1% Retail priCB Our prke SWIFT AUDUBON Mk. 11 8.5 X 44 £68.00 £58.25 SWIFT SARATOGA Mk. 11 8 X 40 £46.00 £39.39 GRAND PRIX 8 X 40 Mk. I £38.00 £32.55 SWIFT NEWPORT Mk. 11 10 X 50 £52.00 £44.55 SWIFT SUPER TECNAR 8 X 40 £28.00 £23.98 ZEISS JENA JENOPTEM 8 X 30 £45.34 £28.83 CARl ZEISS 8 X 30B Dialyt £214.06 £142.71 lEITZ 8 X 40 lB Hard Case - £156.25 lEITZ 10 X 40B Hard Case - £163.75 PERl 9 X 35 £24.37 £19.50 HABICHT DIANA 10 X 40 W/A £156.18 £112.34 Nickel Supra Telescope 15 X 60 X 60 £124.88 £84.00 Hertel & Reuss Televari 25 X 60 X 60 £119.38 £82.00 All complete with case. Fully guaranteed. Always 120 models in stock from £11.00 to £300.00 30p part P&P. AvaUable on 14 days approval-Remlltance with order. The Heron 8 x 40 BCF. Retail approx. £31 .00. our price £21.30. As recommended by Forestry Commission. Ask for our free brochure 'Your guide to Binocular/ Telescope Ownership' and price list. All prices correct at time of going to pr.... Send too for Price LIsts for all Camping, ClImb ing, Rambllng Equipment Crom our as· soclate company FIELD & TREI( (equipment) Ltd.. same top quallty. same keen prices, A S AME ADDRESS. HERON OPTICAL COMPANY Ltd. (Dept. 58). 23/25 Kings Road. Brentwood. Essex. Tel. (STD 0277) 221259/219418. Please' despatch to me immediately .............................. .. for which I enclose £ ........... .1 ...... .. Please send me your Free Brochure described above plus Binocular/Telescope Price List. (Delete as al'l'roprtute) Name .................................................................................. .. Address ......... ... .. ... ............................................................. .. ..................------------...... ... ...... .............. ....................................... (S8) SCOTTISH BIRDS TIlE JOURNAL OF TIlE SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' CLUB 21 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5BT (tel. 031 - 556 6042) CONTENTS OF VOLUME 8, NUMBER S. WINTER 1975 Page Editorial 393 Notice 394 Scottish Bird Report 1974 (R. H. Dennis) 395 Request for Infonnation 467 Scottish Ornithologists' Club 468 Editor D. J. Bates Business Editor Major A. D. Peirse-Duncombe BARN TRAVEL OWL LTD. Holiday courses for bird watchers, naturalists and country-enthusiasts We offer weekends during the winter and weeks during the summer in Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent and weeks only in Wales. Also, Majorca 29th January to 2nd February. Prices £19.50 to £89 (at time of release). These holidays are arranged to be of the utmost benefit to beginners and the experienced alike. Illustrated talks are given during some evenings and, during the summer, some evening walks are made to see/hear nocturnal species. For a superb and informal holiday contact our main leader/lecturer: Derek Tutt, 27 Seaview Road, Gillingham, Kent, ME7 4NL KINDROGAN FIELD CENTRE The Scottish Field Studies Association Kindrogan provides accommodation, lecture rooms, laboratories and a library. Situated in Strathardle, 16 miles north of Blairgowrie and 9 miles north-east of Pitlochry, it affords excellent opportunities for all aspects of Field Studies in the Scottish Highlands. The standard weekly charge is £39.00. The programme for 1976 includes courses for adults in a variety of subjects including:- Ferns Grasses, Sedges & Rushes Fungi Mountain Flowers Mammals Field Botany Natural History Photography Moorland Ecology Painting Rocks and Minerals Natural History of the Biological Recording Highlands Insects BryoJ>hlvtes Landscape Photography Archaeology Geology & Scenery Natural History IDustration All applications, enquiries and requests for programmes should be addressed to the Warden, Kindrogan Field Centre, Enochdhu, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, PHI0 7PG. SCOTTISH BIRDS THE JOURNAL OF THE SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' CLUB Vol. 8 No. 8 Winter 1975 Edited by D. J. Bates Editorial Scottish Birds From time to time we are asked for second hand copies of Scottish Birds, either bound or loose. Members :who have no further use for their copies can help the Club and are asked to hand them in to 21 Regent Terrace or to their Branch Secretary. The revenue from sales of second-hand jour nals is put towards the cost of reprinting early numbers which are out of print, thus .enabling complete sets of the earlier vol umes to be purchased. Current literature Recent material of Scottish interest in cludes: Ecological studies of the Rook (Corvus frugilegus L.) in north-east Scotland: damage and its control. C. J. Feare, 1974. Journal of Applied Ecology 11: 897-914. Ecological studies of the Rook (Corvus frugi/egus L.) in north-east Scotland: food intake and feeding behaviour. C. J. Feare, G. M. Dunnet and I. J. Patterson, 1974. Journal of Applied Ecology 11: 867-896. Notes on raptorial birds on Islay in 1974. J. Graeme Robert son, 1974. Western Naturalist 3: 19-22. Breeding birds of Castle Semple and Barr Lochs, Renfrew shire. Dr J. A. Gibson, 1974. Western Naturalist 3: 59-72. Status of the Kestrel on the eastern Borders. H. F. Church, 1975. Bird Study 22: 92. Communal roosting of Robins in Aberdeenshire. Robert L. Swann, 1975. Bird Study 22: 93-98. Summer food and feeding habits of the Greenshank. Des mond Nethersole-Thompson, 1975. British Birds 68: 243- 245. (Study in Highlands). Birds of Orkney. David Lea and Dr W. R. P. Bourne, 1975. British Birds 68: 261-283. Golden Eagle eating Fulmars. David M. Hawker, 1975. Brit ish Birds 68: 293. (Record from Eigg). Scottish Buzzard in Sweden? D. Weir and N. Picozzi, 1975. BTO News 72: 3. 394 EDITORIAL 8(8) Elusive Redwings. Frank and Eppie Bartlett, 1975. BTO News 72: 5-6. (Study of breeding in Highlands). Changes in the Carrion/Hooded Crow hybrid zone and the possible importance of climate. A. Cook, 1975. Bird Study 22: 165-168. (Scottish study). Angus Wildlife Review 1974. N. K. Atkinson and A. B. Ritchie (eds.), 1975. Dundee Museum, Albert Square, Dundee DDl IDA, price lOp.