THE BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF BARRA 23 



male and female appeared in my garden on the i6th 

 November 1895, and I think they are still (3<Dth 

 November) about the place. 



TURTLE DOVE, Turtur couununis, Selby. On the 2/th 

 September last I secured a Turtle Dove near the place 

 where I got the Pintail Duck the previous week. I 

 observed it flying from east to west rather low, when it 

 was suddenly pounced upon by a Merlin, and when 

 trying to escape from one enemy by hiding under the 

 bank of a small stream, it fell into the hands of 

 another, as I was able to get up to the place before 

 the Falcon could get at it. It proved to be a young 

 male in the autumn plumage ; and although its crop 

 was quite empty, it was in good condition. I think 

 this is the first of the species seen here. 



PINTAIL DUCK, Dafila acuta (L.). I observed a pair of these 

 birds in full breeding plumage on the i6th May 1895, 

 in a narrow bay of the sea on the east side of Barra, 

 and they remained in the same locality for over a week, 

 being quite tame. This is the first time I have met 

 with the species in Barra, but as Mr. Harvie-Brown had 

 found them breeding at the island of Canna, which is 

 not far distant, I was not much surprised to see them. 

 A female of this species a solitary bird was shot by 

 me on the 2oth September 1895, on the Rev. Archibald 

 MacDonald's glebe, which is on the west side of the 

 island. 



POCHARD, Fuligula ferina (L.). A couple of these birds were 

 shot by Mr. Peel, shooting tenant, early in September 

 1894, on St. Clair Loch, which is close to the sea. 



Mr. Finlayson, the schoolmaster of the island of Mingalay, 

 tells me that he has met with the Redstart (Rnticilla phccni- 

 airus] and Goldfinch (Carduelis elegans] on that island ; and he 

 also saw a year or two ago, in the summer, " a bird nearly 

 as yellow as a Canary, and about the same size and shape," 

 which may perhaps have been a Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla 

 rail}, although this species was not seen here before. The 

 House Sparrow (Passer domesticus, L.) seems to have bred at 

 Castlebay this summer, as I have often met with a family of 



