NOTES ON BIRDS SEEN IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES 81 



NOTES ON THE BIRDS SEEN IN THE OUTER 

 HEBRIDES DURING THE SPRING OF 1906. 



By NORMAN B. KINNEAR, M.B.O.U. 

 ( Continued from p. 1 9.) 



CROSSBILL, Loxia curvirostris, Linnaeus. Dr. Mackenzie, Stornoway, 

 tells me that in 1895, the year in which Dr. M'Rury came 

 across the Crossbills in Barra, he saw a flock of seven in his 

 garden in Stornoway on 8th July, and that they remained about 

 the district for nearly three weeks. 



HOODED CROW, Corvus comix, Linnaeus. One of the North Uist 

 keepers showed me three Hoodies' eggs which he had taken 

 from a nest, after shooting the female bird as she flew off. 

 The eggs were of a beautiful pale blue without any spots. 



CUCKOO, Cuculus canonts, Linnaeus. Both in North Uist and The 

 Lews I was told that the Cuckoo was scarcer than usual this 

 year. 



SHORT- EARED OWL, Asio accipitrinus (Pallas). We only came 

 across one or two Short-eared Owls in the whole of the Outer 

 Hebrides, and these were in South Uist. 



HEN HARRIER, Circus cyaneus (Linnaeus). We twice saw a Hen 

 Harrier in Barra, but it probably had come from South Uist, 

 where there still are a few. In North Uist I saw one example, 

 and was told that a few pairs nest there annually. In both 

 these islands the Hen Harrier is now carefully protected. 



HERON, Ardea rinerea, Linnaeus. We saw two Herons in Barra 

 near Eoligary, and in the Uists and Benbecula this species 

 was frequently seen. Mr. D. Mackenzie, Stornoway, informed 

 me that Herons had bred for the last two or three years on 

 the west side of The Lews near the Harris march. On writing 

 to the keeper there, I learned that the first pair bred there in 

 1902, behind a Rowan tree on the face of a cliff overhanging 

 a sea loch. In 1903 there was again a single nest in the same 

 place, but it was disturbed by boys, and next year the birds 

 nested in company with another pair in a fresh place further 

 inland. Another pair joined the small colony in 1905, and 

 last year there were again three nests in the same place. 



GREY LAG GOOSE, Anser rinereus, Meyer. The Grey Lag still nests 

 in The Uists and Benbecula. In South Uist there has been 

 a decided increase since the " Vertebrate Fauna of the Outer 

 Hebrides " was written. 

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