BIRD NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF MAY AUTUMN 1909 5 



Spotted Woodpecker (D. major} appeared ; it hopped and 

 flapped clumsily from one grassy mound to another, feeding 

 on the red ants which abound there. Next morning we 

 put up a very wild Bluethroat in one of the gardens, 

 saw several Redstarts (R. phcenicurus}, a female Blackcap, 

 several Garden Warblers (S. salicaria), and a Lesser White- 

 throat. The first Brambling (F. montifringilla) of the 

 season was observed and several Pied Flycatchers had 

 come in. 



On the 1 8th September there were more Blackcaps, 

 all with the chestnut head, a Chiff-chaff (P. collybita), a 

 Spotted Flycatcher (M. grisola], and a Pied flycatcher. 

 Quantities of Swallows (//. rustica) and House-martins 

 (C. urbicd) were circling round above the island, or sitting 

 in long rows on the telephone wires ; this is the only time 

 we have seen any great numbers of these birds on the 

 island. By next morning almost all the Hirundina; had 

 left, and the only new species that had come in was a 

 Stonechat (P. rubicola). The 2Oth brought nothing of 

 special interest, except that we procured a specimen of the 

 Greater Wheatear (S. cenanthe leucorrhod] with a wing 

 measurement of 105 millimetres. On the 2ist a Missel- 

 thrush (T. viscivorus] and a Grey Wagtail (M. melanope], 

 occurred, and next day we recorded a Lesser Whitethroat, 

 a nice little flock of eight Siskins (C. spinus) and a Golden 

 Plover (C. pluvialis}. 



After a poor day on the 23rd we had a fine lot of birds 

 on the 24th, the new arrivals including Redstarts, a lot of 

 Whitethroats (S. cinered), several Lesser Whitethroats, a 

 Garden Warbler, a Goldcrest (R. cristatus), another Yellow- 

 browed Warbler, a good many Siskins, a Pied Flycatcher, 

 a Brambling and several Tree Pipits (A. trivialis]. We 

 were much puzzled by the mysterious way in which one 

 particular bird baffled our attempts to solve its identity. 

 We saw a Warbler in a small patch of nettles arid proceeded 

 to try to walk it up, with no result ; we returned in half- 

 an-hour or so and saw the bird again, but on trying to 

 make its nearer acquaintance it again vanished ; this 

 happened several times, and we could not think where 

 the bird had gone to, for if it had flown out of the patch 



