4 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



got early in the season belonged to the British race, though 

 one that I got in November 1916 (and doubtless many others 

 in the big rushes late in the season) was of Continental origin. 

 This species is always very numerous on suitable nights : 

 sometimes they darken the rays, and the death-roll is often 

 enormous. 



From the end of September onwards, Redwings are 

 nightly visitors, and when weather conditions are suitable, 

 they, like the Thrush, are very numerous, and the death-rate 

 is always large: the court below, the tops of the flat roofs, and 

 all round about, are literally strewn with the dead. Then 

 come the scavengers : Kestrels and Gulls appear and make a 

 clean sweep, the Gulls picking them up as a hen picks corn. 

 Fieldfares and Blackbirds too are very numerous on migration, 

 and many are killed at the light. This season has been a 

 record here for Ring-ouzels ; as many as fourteen have been 

 counted sitting round the lantern at a time, whereas for 

 previous seasons just an occasional visitor would be recorded. 

 Missel-thrushes I find erratic in their movements one night 

 very numerous, then on the following night only a few ; again, 

 several nights pass and only an occasional one will be seen, 

 then a big rush may occur and many will be killed. 



Finches and Linnets gather here for a day or two in 

 great flocks, then proceed in undulating flights to the south : 

 they are daylight travellers, and prefer a light easterly wind 

 and clear atmosphere. The Grey, Pied, and White Wagtails 

 travel principally by day ; their movements and those of the 

 Wheatear were stronger this autumn than I have ever seen. 

 The Wheatear seems to me to travel both by day and night, 

 I have seen them passing in great numbers over the island 

 on a southern course during the day, and at night in numbers 

 round the lantern. Robins and Wrens have been unusually 

 plentiful on migration this autumn, being regular visitors to 

 the lantern, and up to the time of writing (mid-November) 

 a great many Wrens are still on the island. An interesting 

 visitor came during the third week of November this year, 

 namely, a Wryneck, which struck the lantern and was killed ; 

 it seems a late date for this species to occur so far north. 

 Golden Plover and Lapwings are at times very numerous ; 



