218 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



recently stated he had spent thirty-five summers on the mainland 

 without ever having heard the Cuckoo until this May. On 25th May 

 our postmaster informed me he had heard, unmistakably, repeated 

 calls of the Cuckoo coming from Hamnafeldt Hill. I was anxious 

 to confirm his statement, as I had been on the outlook for this 

 bird during the last five springs spent on the island, and so far 

 without success. I knew the bird would not remain long on the 

 island, perhaps only a few hours. Owing to his hawk-like 

 appearance the Cuckoo gets mobbed; the Skuas are the kings of 

 mobbers, and the two species of Skua here having laid, were doubly 

 fierce. I was unable to get out until the 26th, I knew my best 

 chance would be along the shore, and I happened to be right. 

 Within twenty minutes of leaving the house I came across 

 not one but two Cuckoos, and for another twenty minutes had 

 them under good observation. They showed no trace of rough 

 handling, but were particularly wild and difficult to approach, never 

 allowing me nearer than fifty yards. Wm. Harry Greenaway. 



Hen-harrier in Ayrshire. On the evening of Monday, 

 23rd April 191 7, Mr John Young, gamekeeper on Loudoun 

 estate, brought to me a large hawk which his brother that day 

 had found in one of his traps on the Windshield Moor, near 

 Darvel. At first he was under the impression that it was a Kite 

 (Milvas ictinus), but to make sure he very kindly brought it down 

 to me for identification. On a close examination and perusal 

 of Howard Saunders' Ma?iual of British Birds we came to the 

 conclusion that it was a male Hen-harrier {Circus cydneus). Its 

 upper parts were a uniform pale slate grey; rump white; white 

 underparts; on the tail four or five bars of faint brown, also a few 

 markings of the same colour on the flanks. This is the only record 

 so far as I am aware of the Hen-harrier being in this locality. 

 They were quite common on the South Ayrshire moors in the first 

 half of last century. During the years 1850 to 1854, 351 were 

 killed on Craiglure and Culzean estates, a sad and tragic story. 

 The only other more recent record for Ayrshire is a report from 

 Muirkirk district, where Mr Fairbairn saw three ringed-tailed Gleads 

 circling high overhead about twenty-four years ago {Glen field 

 Rambles Annals'). They are still to be seen in the Island of Arran, 

 and I believe they still nest there ; at anyrate they did at a very 

 recent date. Nicol Hopkins, Darvel. 



