no THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Starlings at the light, they were thick on the grating, the 

 hand-rails, astragals, and dome, and many were flying in 

 the rays ; we ringed forty in quite a short time, and then 

 had to stop for want of rings. Thrushes and Redwings 

 were calling in the rays, and Lapwings were circling round 

 the lantern. 



On the 22nd October, as we were standing by the 

 monastery we heard a wild mewing cry above our heads, 

 and mingled with it the shrill chattering call of the Peregrine. 

 On looking up we saw a Buzzard being furiously pursued 

 by a Peregrine ; the Buzzard with its heavy lumbering 

 flight was no match for the more agile Falcon, which with 

 determined attacks drove it away over the Firth to the 

 south and they disappeared in the distance, the Peregrine 

 still continuing the pursuit as far as our eyes and glasses 

 could follow. 



A good many Short-eared Owls visited the island this 

 autumn and preyed upon the migrants : we made some 

 observations on their habits, which we append below. 

 " We notice that on the north plateau, where the Short- 

 eared Owls have been living, they had regular larders 

 where they hid birds in a tuft of grass and kept them 

 till they were ready for them. Often these birds were 

 minus the primaries of one or both wings, and some- 

 times the rectrices had been plucked out too. Thrushes 

 seemed to be their chief fare, but we also found the 

 remains of Redwings, Chaffinches, Spotted Flycatchers, 

 Meadow-pipits, Skylarks, Wheatears, a Bunting, probably 

 a Reed, Goldcrests, a Turnstone, and Common Terns. 

 In all probability many of these birds were caught in 

 the rays, when dazzled by the light, as the Owls were 

 frequently seen chasing the migrants that were flying round 

 the light." 



The mortality among the migrants this year was greatly 

 in excess of anything we have ever seen before, many 

 Redwings, Thrushes, and Goldcrests were literally starved 

 to death. We sent several of these to Professor Sutherland, 

 who kindly examined them for us and told us that we were 

 correct in attributing their death to starvation. Besides 



