THE BIRDS OF FAIR ISLE 73 



with details of their occurrence, those species which have 

 been added to the fauna during the past year. 



The chief sources of information are the observations 

 made by Mr. George Stout, who has again earned my 

 grateful acknowledgments for the thorough manner in 

 which he has carried out my instructions ; and the investiga- 

 tions made by myself and Mr. C. Preston Donaldson during 

 a five weeks' sojourn on the island during the autumn, when 

 So species of migratory birds came under our notice. In 

 this connection, too, I must not omit to mention, and express 

 my thanks for, the valuable assistance rendered by Mr. J. 

 W. Anderson and the Lightkeepers. 



During the year the movements of no less than I 1 7 

 species were recorded. Of these, 77 came under notice on 

 their journeys northward in spring ; while in the autumn 

 the observations on the movements southwards, and the 

 visits of a few rare wanderers, related to I 1 1 species. The 

 identical species known to have visited the island on both 

 the spring and autumn passages in 1907 were 71 in number. 

 The new birds added to the fauna were 17, making the 

 total ascertained Ornis of Fair Isle at the close of the year 

 to be 1 60 species. 



Foremost among the new birds in point of interest, and, 

 it may be added, not less so in rarity, is the Siberian Chiff- 

 Chaff. This species is a summer visitor to the extreme 

 N.E. of Europe and to N.W. Asia, and is only known to 

 have reached our shores on one previous occasion. Several 

 examples, however, of this inconspicuous species occurred 

 at Fair Isle in October, and their appearance is of consider- 

 able importance since it suggests the possibility that the 

 bird is not a mere accidental visitor, but that further research 

 may prove it to be a more or less regular autumn migrant 

 with us, like its Siberian congener the Yellow -browed 

 Warbler. 



The other new birds of the rarer type are the Black- 

 headed Bunting, the Black-throated Wheatear, and the Short- 

 toed Lark ; all of them natives of the far south, which should 

 have flitted farther south. These are additional instances 

 of those erratic wanderings of migrants to which the Fair 

 Isle observations have already contributed some remarkable 



