REPORT ON SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGY IN I914 151 



time the continental form has been recorded as a winter 

 visitor to Britain. 



Species new to Scotland, 



An important addition was made to the Scottish avifauna 

 in 1 9 14, in the shape of an Aquatic Warbler {Acrocephahis 

 aqiiatiais) which visited Fair Isle on 23rd October. It was 

 a very stormy day, and the bird was sheltering in the lee of 

 a patch of turnips, where it was discovered by the watcher, 

 Mr Jerome Wilson. It was not very wild, and proved to be 

 a male in winter plumage. The Aquatic Warbler breeds in 

 Central and Southern Europe (with the exception of the 

 Balkan Peninsula), and extends as far north as southern 

 Denmark and east to the Urals. It also nests in North- 

 west Africa, and probably winters further south in Tropical 

 Africa. It has bred on one or two occasions in England, 

 but is generally a rare visitor to that country, has been 

 recorded twice in Ireland, but never before in Scotland 

 (I. 1915. 5). 



Birds new to Faunal Areas, and Uncommon 



Visitors. 



There are again many interesting birds to record under 

 this heading, and though the number is not as large as in 

 some years, that is not to be wondered at, if we study the 

 type of weather prevalent at the periods of maximum 

 migration both in spring and autumn. This is specially 

 noticeable at the latter time ; we have become accustomed 

 to the yearly occurrence at this period of Little Buntings, 

 Ortolans, Scarlet Grosbeaks, Red-breasted Flycatchers, and 

 Bluethroats, and their absence is the more interesting as 

 they are some of the most regular visitants that ordinarily 

 come under this heading. The reason for their non- 

 occurrence seems to be the total absence, during almost 

 the whole of the migration period, of the easterly type of 

 weather which is instrumental in bringing these species, and 



