4 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



secondaries, and wing-coverts blackish-brown with narrow 

 pale brown margins ; sides of the neck white tinged with 

 buff ; throat and centre of abdomen white ; chest warm 

 buff; flanks and under tail-coverts pale buff; axillaries 

 black ; under wing-coverts black, with paler edges ; eyes, 

 bill, feet, and toes black. 



BIRD NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF MAY 

 -AUTUMN 1909. 



By LEONORA JEFFREY RINTOUL AND EVELYN V. BAXTER. 



THIS autumn (1909) we again returned to the Isle of May, 

 spending six weeks there from I3th September to 28th 

 October. During our stay on the island we saw 91 species 

 of birds, in spite of the fact that for a large part of the 

 time the weather conditions were very unfavourable for 

 migration observations. The first fortnight was characterised 

 by the prevalence of light easterly winds, and many 

 interesting birds put in an appearance, though there were 

 no great numbers of any one kind. 



We landed on the island about 2 p.m. on I 3th September 

 and at once set out to see what birds were present. We 

 found few kinds, but among them was a Barred Warbler 

 (S. nisoria) , a Blackcap (S. atricapilla} $ , and a Scarlet 

 Grosbeak (C. erythinus] ?. This was an encouraging 

 beginning, and by next day a Whinchat (P. rubetra], a 

 Bluethroat (C. sueciai] a bird of the year, a Pied Flycatcher 

 (M. atricapilla}, and a White Wagtail (M. alba}, had arrived. 

 We also saw a Whimbrel (N. pluzopus], which species we 

 saw every day till 25th September, one to three birds at 

 a time. 



The i 5th was a very poor day, but on the i6th we saw 

 several Lesser Whitethroats (S. curruca) and a Yellow- 

 browed W^arbler (P. superciliosus), the latter in the lighthouse 

 garden. It was an extremely restless little bird, flitting 

 here and there and uttering its curious note, a loud ringing 

 "pee," audible a long way off; it was an extraordinarily 

 strong note for so small a bird. In the afternoon a Great 



