8 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Under these circumstances I was much interested, and to 

 some extent surprised, to capture the Lesser Shrew in some 

 numbers during the three days I was at Stromness. Since 

 then I have received many others, but not a single example 

 of the Common Shrew. All the examples were taken in the 

 runs of the Voles, and were secured either in the daytime or 

 during the night or early morning. These Orkney Lesser 

 Shrews seemed to me to be more brilliantly coloured on the 

 under surface than any other examples I have seen, being 

 pure silky white, not greyish white, below. 



ROYAL SCOTTISH MUSEUM, 



EDINBURGH, November 1904. 



THE BIRDS OF THE FLANNAN ISLANDS; 

 OUTER HEBRIDES. 



By WM. EAGLE CLARKE. 



THE Flannan Islands, known also by the name of the Seven 

 Hunters, form a group of small uninhabited isles lying out 

 in the Atlantic. They are situated from twenty to twenty- 

 three miles west of Gallan Head, at the mouth of Loch Roag, 

 Island of Lewis ; and forty miles N.E. of St. Kilda, with the 

 exception of which they are among the most western islands 

 of Great Britain. 



They may be said to form two groups : an eastern one 

 comprising four islands (Eilean Mhor, Eilean Tigh, Soraidh, 

 and an island which is nameless on the chart) ; and a 

 western one lying two miles farther out and composed of three 

 islands (Rhoderheim, Bronna Cleit, and Eilean Gobba). In 

 addition there are several smaller islets, making in all some 

 twenty islands, skerries, and rocks. They are probably the 

 wildest spots in the British Isles. 



The seven main islands are precipitous and rise on 

 all sides direct from the ocean, and this fact, taken along 

 with their exposed situation, renders them extremely difficult 

 to land upon. 



The data upon which this contribution is based, consist 



