216 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



DUNLIN, Tringa alpina. Much less numerous than the last species, 

 but widely distributed ; its chief haunts were in North Roe and 

 the marshes in the south-west of Unst. 



SANDPIPER, Totanus hypoleitcus. In 1895 I noted this species on 

 three lochs in Walls, and on Click-a-himin near Lerwick. In 

 1896 I found it on Houllma Water and on Voxterby, and on 

 a loch at the waterfalls in North Roe. Its eggs are, I believe, 

 still a desideratum for Shetland. 



REDSHANK, Totanus calidris. On 22nd July Mr. Bowie and I noted 

 a single bird of this species off Firths Ness, and later on in the 

 day at Mossbank. 



WHIMBREL, Numenius phaopus. In 1895 I met w ^ tn a single bird at 

 the side of Grumnavoe in Walls on iyth June. In 1896 I did 

 not meet with the bird till I reached Eshaness on 23rd June. 

 Thereafter I found it repeatedly, though sparsely distributed. 



CURLEW, Numenius arquata. The curlew occurred commonly 

 throughout the isles, but as a breeding-species was sparingly 

 distributed. Its chief nesting-haunts were in Delting and the 

 islands of Yell Sound. 



ARCTIC TERN, Sterna macrura. I found colonies of this bird on 

 three grass-clad inland lochs : Grumnavoe in Walls, Setter in 

 Aithsting, and a small loch in the Kame Hills of Delting. I 

 examined the nests on Grumnavoe carefully in 1895; they 

 were thick structures of broad herbage, laid down without any 

 tidiness, but compact enough to keep the eggs thoroughly dry. 

 On the Brough of Copister I saw a nest made of seaweed, and 

 measuring eight inches across. Again, on Linga in Delting, 

 I saw a number of nests on the grassy slopes ; these were 

 insignificant structures compared with the nests found previously, 

 but even here nearly every nest contained a little grass or hay. 

 These facts are sufficient to confute Dixon's statement that 

 " no lining is ever used." In the last-mentioned colony a pair 

 of white-headed Terns were flying with the community, and 

 were eagerly desired as great rarities. I brought one home 

 with me, and Mr. Eagle Clarke tells me it is merely an 

 immature Arctic Tern, to which formerly the name of Sterna 

 portlandica was assigned. 



BLACK-HEADED GULL, Larus ridibnndus. The only breeding-station 

 of this bird seen by me was on a small island in Houllma 

 Water, between Sandsting and Aithsting, on which there are a 

 very few pairs. I noticed the bird there in 1895 as well as in 

 1896, and this year in our rambles around Walls we frequently 

 met with one or two birds foraging from this haunt. On 28th 

 July I saw a single bird at the Mill Loch, near Noness Head 

 in Lunnasting. 



