ON THE AVIFAUNA OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES 147 



CROSSBILL (Loxia cnrvirostra), p. 64. This comes to be added 

 to the Fauna of the Outer Hebrides. A few were seen in Dr. 

 M'Rury's garden on June 30, 1894. In a letter to me, Dr. M'Rury 

 says nine were seen, and two of these were in full male plumage. 



YELLOW BUNTING (Emberiza citrinella\ p. 65. As regards 

 Barra, Mr. W. L. MacGillivray writes me that he "just once saw a 

 single Yellow Bunting, and that, last year (1901), in May, in our 

 garden " ; and he goes on to say : " The doctor (Dr. J. M'Rury) 

 saw one or two a few years ago." 



REED BUNTING (Emberiza schceniclus), p. 66. This bird is now 

 reported as nesting in Barra by Dr. M'Rury. 



SNOW BUNTING (Emberiza nivalis\ p. 66. Dates of the arrival 

 of this visitor, as observed by Mr. Radclyffe- Waters, are : " First 

 appearance noted on October i, 1894, and on October 5, 1895. I 

 think they arrive generally about that time, and it occurs very 

 numerously in the Flannan Isles. 



STARLING (Stiirnns vulgaris), p. 68. The vast increase of this 

 bird is equally noticeable in the Outer Hebrides as in many other 

 parts of Scotland. The Outer Hebrides, though an ancient habitat 

 of the species, appears of late years to have participated in this vast 

 increase, whether from internal sources alone, or from accessions 

 from other more distant areas which have become congested, it 

 would not be very easy to ascertain. "Since 1886," writes Mr. 

 M'Elfrish, " starlings have increased immensely. About Lochmaddy 

 alone, there must be hundreds (sic), for every one there was in 1886. 

 Great numbers roost in my garden, and all over the islands they 

 may be seen circling in the air in countless numbers." 



[Writing to me in 1890, Stoddart the Newton shepherd told 

 me of a bird " like a Hooded Crow, but no bigger than a Blackbird." 

 It is possible this may have been a specimen of the Rose-coloured 

 Pastor.] 



CHOUGH (Pyrrochorax graculus), p. 69. Dr. M'Rury finds that 

 this species " undoubtedly " occurred in Barra, as recorded by Prof. 

 MacGillivray, and considers that it ought to be permanently included 

 in the Fauna of the Outer Hebrides, although there have been no 

 recent instances of its occurrence in any of the southern islands of 

 the group. I am quite of this opinion, but a more recent record, 

 independently of this old one, enables us to remove all brackets at 

 once. One was shot near Stornoway, Lewis, September 13, 1895, 

 by Mr. Duncan Mackenzie, and recorded ("Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist." 

 1896, p. 122). There is some good reason to agree with Mr. 

 Mackenzie that this bird may have been in company with the great 

 flights of Rooks. Mr. D. Mackenzie, when I saw him at Stornoway 

 in April 1902, told me he had seen what he took to be a chough, 

 at the same place, twelve months previously probably the self-same 

 bird he shot. 



