NOTES ON BIRDS SEEN IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES 19 



had gone by the time he returned. Mr. Mackenzie is a native 

 of Sutherland, and is well acquainted with the Coal Tit there, 

 so I think there is no doubt about the identification. During 

 the first week of July I frequently came across family parties of 

 Coal Tits in the woods round Stornoway Castle, which had 

 evidently been bred there, but it cannot be said to be an 

 abundant species. 



WHITE WAGTAIL, Motacilla alba, Linnaeus. This species was fairly 

 numerous on migration in Barra from the i8th, the day we 

 landed, to the 22nd of May. 



SPOTTED FLYCATCHER, Muscicapa grisola, Linnaeus. On yth July I 

 saw a single bird at the back of the Castle gardens, Stornoway. 

 It appeared from its actions to have young or a nest near, but 

 I was unable to find either or see a second bird. 



SWALLOW, Hit-undo rustica, Linnaeus. We saw three Swallows at 

 the back of Ben Scurrival, Barra, on 22nd May. Mr. D. 

 Mackenzie, Stornoway, tells me that about fifteen years ago the 

 coachman at the Castle asked him to come and see a pair of 

 birds which were nesting at the stables, as he did not know 

 what they were. Mr. Mackenzie found that they were a pair 

 of Swallows, but he has not seen any nesting there since. 



SAND MARTIN, Chelidon riparia (Linnaeus). One seen at Rueless, 

 on the east side of Barra, on 24th May. 



GREENFINCH, Ligiirinus chloris, Linnaeus. No mention of this 

 species at Stornoway is made in Mr. Harvie Brown's supple- 

 ment to the " Fauna of the Outer Hebrides," but from all I was 

 able to learn it must have been a breeding species there for 

 some time. It is not yet really abundant, but I saw a few 

 both old and young birds in the Castle grounds. 



HOUSE SPARROW, Passer domesticus, Linnaeus. The House Sparrow 

 in the Outer Hebrides seems still to be confined to Castlebay, 

 Barra ; Tarbert, Harris ; and Stornoway, Lewis. 



TREE SPARROW, Passer montanus (Linnaeus). We only saw the 

 Tree Sparrow in Barra at Eoligary, where there is a long- 

 established colony. On the west side of North Uist I came 

 across six Tree Sparrows by the roadside near Balmartin. 

 They were all old birds, but though I watched them for some 

 time I was unable to ascertain whether they were nesting. At 

 Stornoway I found a small colony of six pairs breeding in the 

 Castle grounds. The nests were in Spruce trees, and in three 

 of them the lower part was made of dried grass, and the upper, 

 the domed part, of green moss. 



/ 



(To be continued.} 



