NOTES 93 



was, "I came out to gel some thatch." However, as there was no 

 sign of collecting thatch I became suspicious. I watched carefully 

 and saw eggs being collected, and then I interrogated other crofters 

 and farmers whom I knew. Finding that I was aware of what was 

 going on they gradually opened out, and I found that, although 

 the egg collectors were supposed to collect only the eggs of wild- 

 fowl, principally those of the Eider-duck, they took everything they 

 came across that could be used as food. As the egg collectors 

 were born observers they knew exactly the localities the wild birds 

 chose for nesting, and few if any nests escaped their attentions. 

 The reason for the increase of new stocks of game birds for a year 

 or two after their first introduction to the island was easy to explain. 

 These birds were put down near the mansion-house, and as long as 

 they bred there were safe; but, when in the course of a year or two 

 they scattered and nested further afield, their eggs were taken, and 

 the shooters unknowingly generally did the rest to make the 

 stock disappear. 



In more recent years and with a greatly decreased population, 

 most of whom are well employed and have no time for egg collecting, 

 the sporting value of this island, while still not great, has much 

 improved. A certain amount of damage is no doubt due to Ravens, 

 Hoodie Crows, Jackdaws, and Gulls, but as there is no ground 

 vermin such as Stoats and Weasels, the nesting birds are less liable 

 to interference during the breeding time than on many other 

 places. There has always been a gamekeeper during the time that 

 I have visited the island, but he has probably not always been a native 

 who understood native ways. Symington Grieve, Edinburgh. 



Scarcity of Winter Visitors in Fife. We were interested 

 to notice in Mr Osgood Mackenzie's valuable paper on " Vanishing 

 Birds and Birds that have already Vanished in West Ross shire," 

 mention of the want of Fieldfares and Redwings this winter (1917- 

 18). Here also these species have been remarkable by their absence 

 up to the date of writing (5th February), and the only Bramblings 

 seen were a small party of six on Christmas Day. There has been 

 an unusually heavy crop of hollyberries which still mostly remain on 

 the trees, in spite of a long and severe spell of frost. This type of 

 weather usually brings large numbers of Redwings and Fieldfares 

 which quickly strip the trees of berries ; on this occasion, however, 

 none visited us. Other winter visitors which have been scarce are 

 Hoodie Crows, of which few have been seen, and Snow-Buntings, 

 of which only one has come under notice. We attribute this .lack 







