TWO NEW SCOTTISH BIRDS 



273 



of a Phylloscopine bird. It possesses, too, characters not 

 shared by typical members of the genus, among others 

 the comparatively long first primary, and these have led 

 to its having been considered as belonging to other genera 

 Oreopneuste, Lusciniola, and Herbivocula. 



At Auskerry over one hundred species of birds were 

 observed during my visit, a number of which are rare and 

 interesting, several of them being new to the avifauna of 

 Orkney. It is proposed to treat of some of these in a future 

 contribution. 



TWO NEW SCOTTISH BIRDS. 



By Evelyn V. Baxter and Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul. 



The favourable climatic conditions which prevailed during 

 September and the first half of October, brought many 

 interesting visitors to the Isle of May. Chief among these 

 were the two which are the subject of this paper, both being 

 additions to the Scottish avifauna. On 27th September a 

 Melodious Warbler (Hypolais polyglotta) appeared on the 

 island ; it proved tc be a female, in abraded plumage and 

 considerably off colour. This is a southern species, breeding 

 in France, south of the Somme, South-western Europe, 

 Italy, and North-west Africa, and wintering in Western 

 Africa. It has been recorded several times from the south 

 of England in spring, and once from Cork in autumn, and 

 has been noted in Belgium, Heligoland, and Austria, but 

 this wanderer to Scotland seems to have penetrated farther 

 north than any hitherto recorded. 



On 10th October our attention was caught by a most 

 unusual looking Stonechat ; in fact, at first sight the bird 

 looked more like a small Whinchat than anything else. It 

 was a bird of the year, but, as it was necessary to com- 

 pare the specimen with a series of skins, it was submitted 

 to Dr Hartert, who kindly examined it, and refers it to 

 24 2 M 



