BIRDS OBSERVED IN SOUTHERN SHETLAND 5 



ON SOME MIGRATORY AND OTHER BIRDS 

 OBSERVED IN SOUTHERN SHETLAND IN 

 SEPTEMBER 1900. 



By WM. EAGLE CLARKE, F.L.S., and T. G. LAIDLAW, M.B.O.U. 



THE following notes are offered as a small contribution to 

 our knowledge of the migratory birds visiting Shetland in the 

 autumn. A few of the observations are added relating to 

 certain resident species. 



This northern archipelago has for long years past been 

 the happy hunting-ground of the egg- collector, with the 

 result that its breeding birds are almost as well known as 

 those of any of the Scottish counties. 



In remarkable contrast with this is our knowledge of the 

 various species which visit the islands during the periods of 

 the spring and autumn migrations. It is strange that so 

 few ornithologists have thought it worth their while to visit 

 Shetland at these seasons, and thus our knowledge relating 

 to the birds of passage with the notable exception of those 

 visiting Unst is very slight, and much remains to be accom- 

 plished ere it can be regarded as satisfactory. Yet it may 

 be said without fear of contradiction that there is no more 

 important area within the British Isles in which to make 

 observations, and none for which an accurate knowledge is 

 more to be desired. 



It is necessary to know what species, or what proportion 

 of the species, travel thus far north in spring before striking 

 across the waters of the North Sea to reach their summer 

 haunts in Northern Europe, or travel via the Shetlands in 

 the autumn when en route for their winter retreats. More 

 than this, a particular acquaintance with the distribution of 

 these birds in the various isles of the group and in the various 

 districts of the great main island is a desideratum, for not all 

 of the voyageurs reach the northern portion of the archipelago 

 the song Thrush, for instance, is known to occur annually 

 in the extreme south, is rare further north, and finally at 

 Unst, the Ultima TJiule of the islands, is practically unknown. 



Our present knowledge regarding the birds of passage is 



