BIRD NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF MAY AUTUMN 1909 9 



flying away when we were still some distance off, but each 

 time they rose they uttered their peculiar call-note, a high 

 wild " Hi-yi-yi," quite unlike any other bird-note we know. 

 Next day there was still one on the island, and we saw the 

 first Brent Goose (B. brenta] that we have seen at the May ; 

 while the day after, the first Long-tailed Duck (H. glacialis] $ > 

 appeared close to the island, and we saw this species several 

 times subsequently. On 1 6th October we again saw a 

 Shore-lark and at 8.30 p.m. heard a great thud on the roof: 

 on going up next morning to see what had struck, we found 

 a Water-rail (R. aquaticus] lying dead on the leads. About 

 4 a.m. on the morning of the i/th the first Fieldfares (7\ 

 pilaris} of the season came to the lantern, as did a Blackcap, 

 a Garden Warbler, and a few Thrushes ; and on going out 

 next morning it was evident that there had been a big 

 Thrush immigration, as the island was full of them. Several 

 Tree Pipits had also arrived and a Merlin (F. (zsalori). 



On i 8th October there were a very great many Red- 

 wings, and we found that a good many had been killed at 

 the light. We also saw a Ring Ouzel, a male Blackcap, a 

 Willow-warbler and a Goldcrest. A Greenfinch (L. chloris) 

 had put in an appearance, and an adult Common Gull (L. 

 camis) came to the lantern at 7.30 p.m. iQth October 

 provided the crowning hour of our life here, in the 

 shape of an Eastern Pied Chat (S. pleschankd) a new bird 

 for Britain as we have recorded in a separate article, q.v. 

 A Blackcap $ and several Greenfinches are perhaps worth 

 mentioning. The next two days we saw nothing noteworthy, 

 but on the 22nd we got another Greater Wheatear, and next 

 day a Mallard {A. bosckas) and a Lesser Black-backed Gull 

 (L. fuscus) were added to the list. 



On 24th October another Yellow-browed Warbler had 

 arrived, and was seen flitting about the rocks. At the south 

 end of the island, we saw an immature Glaucous Gull 

 (L. glaucus) and a Grebe in winter plumage, probably 

 P. auritus. The last species we added to our autumn list 

 was the Black Guillemot ( U. grylle], of which species we 

 saw two birds in winter plumage in the sea close to the 

 island on 2/th October. When we arrived on the island 

 there were very few Eider (S. mollissima) to be seen, but 



