210 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



stormy weather, which blew many out of their course. Thus 

 after a storm from the S.E. two were seen in S. Uist on -?ist 



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May. Again on 4th June two more. The keepers tell me that 

 several years ago they nested at Grogary Lodge. On another 

 occasion, 8th June, after another gale three more were seen. 



HOUSE MARTIN, Chelidon nrbica, Linn. A single example, which 

 is new to the list, was seen after a violent gale (from no 

 particular direction, as it blew from all quarters) on 4th June. 



TWITE, Linota flavirostris, Linn. This in the Outer Isles represents 

 the Sparrow elsewhere. Its nests are found abundantly, not 

 only in the cultivated parts, but high up on the barren moors 

 far from human habitation. In some stunted sycamore trees 

 we found four nests on 27th June. Some of the eggs were 

 partly incubated. I marvelled at the manner in which the 

 eggs remained in the nest when perilously swaying in the 

 storm. On 5th June a patch of gorse yielded five nests : two 

 which contained six eggs, one young birds. 



STARLING, Sturnus vittgaris, Linn. This bird has become even 

 more numerous than last year. Numbers nest amongst the 

 stones on which the foundation of the roadway is built. The 

 young were all flying by gth June. 



RAVEN, Corvus corax. Linn. Of these we saw but little. Once 

 while photographing an Oyster Catcher on her nest, a 

 particularly miserable specimen passed over. The Oyster 

 Catchers immediately gave chase, and so discovered us in our 

 lair. This specimen was in full moult, and many of its 

 primaries were missing. 



SKYLARK, Alauda arvemis, Linn. The skylark's song sounds to me 

 the sweetest when heard above the raging of the storm : no 

 amount of rain seems able to damp their spirits. In these 

 islands the nests are sometimes found miles away from any 

 others of their kind, out on the moors. Last year I found one 

 close to that of a Wild Goose, some seven miles from the 

 nearest piece of cultivated ground. This bird is a very good 

 mimic, and is able to imitate the call notes of many shore birds 

 to perfection. At the end of May, when searching for Dunlins' 

 nests, we were often misled by hearing their characteristic trill, 

 which, on further investigation, proved to proceed from this 

 versatile songster's throat. That they are able to reproduce 

 these notes, even before their rightful owners have arrived, goes 

 far to prove that their memory serves to last from one season 

 to another. In like manner I have heard them reproduce the 

 love-song of the Ringed Plover, and even the shrill notes of 

 the Oyster Catcher, interspersed, of course, with snatches of 

 their original composition. In other parts where the Redshank 



