2 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Rushes of this species occurred on iith, i6th, 25th, and 

 3<Dth September, and ist, /th, and loth October, and a very 

 pronounced one on the I ith ; we procured Thrushes out of 

 each rush, but they all proved to be of the British racial 

 form T. philomelos darkei. It may be worth recording here, 

 that among the SongThrushes procured in the autumn of 1 909 

 on the Isle of May, there were several belonging to the foreign 

 race T. philomelos philomelos. The first Redwing ( Turdus 

 musicus} appeared on 2 7th September, on /th October a 

 good many arrived, from the I2th to the i$th there were 

 numbers present, and on i6th October (S.E. wind, very light, 

 hazy) a great rush occurred. The birds came in from the 

 north during the whole day, most plentifully in the morning, 

 and in addition to those that alighted on the island, we saw 

 and heard countless numbers passing overhead. A Fieldfare 

 (Turdus pilaris) was seen on 25th September, an unusually 

 early date ; we saw no more till I ith October, after which 

 they occurred daily. From I4th to i/th October, with an 

 easterly wind, great rushes of Blackbirds (Turdus merula) 

 took place, the dome of the lighthouse being thronged with 

 them in the early mornings, and the island covered with 

 them ; almost all were young males with black bills. No 

 Thrushes arrived during these Blackbird rushes. Ring 

 Ouzels (Turdus torquatus) occurred in small numbers between 

 25th September and i/th October. One of the features of 

 this season was the number of Greater Wheatears {Saxicola 

 cenantlie leucorJwd] ; they occurred almost daily from 6th 

 September till 1 2th October, and we noted that they very 

 often arrived during the day, usually about 4 p.m. These 

 birds were very fond of hiding under stones, and would often 

 crouch down in the rubble underneath some big block, and 

 refuse to move till we were within about two feet of them. 

 Once a Greater Wheatear perched on one of the chimneys 

 of the lighthouse. Saxicola oenanthe cenanthe was not at all 

 plentiful on the island this season. A good many Whinchats 

 (Pratincola rnbetra) were present on i ith September, and 

 we saw a few on other dates between the 2nd and 26th ; 

 four Stonechats {Pratincola torquata) were also seen. 



Redstarts (Pkcenicurus phcenicurus) were remarkably 

 scarce, and we only saw one Red-spotted Bluethroat 



