NOTES ON THE MAMMALS AND BIRDS OF ROUSAY. 51 



nest in the first instance, though once the female is 

 killed he wdll occasionally come and take her place. 



In autumn these birds are very abundant, princi- 

 pally young ones of the year, though I have very 

 occasionally seen an old male, and one I observed 

 had not quite assumed the adult dress : this ^vas in 

 November. Its half -grey plumage was very striking. 



Old males seem to be covered with a sort of white 

 bloom, and this, when rubbed off, leaves the bird of 

 a darker tint. This bloom begins to be assumed the 

 first autumn, about November. 



Fam. Sfrigklce. 

 Short-eared Owl (Asio ace i pit r inns). Much 

 commoner formerly than now ; indeed, this year the 

 keeper could only find one nest on the whole island ; 

 this contained six eggs. I believe these Owls laid 

 a second time, as I used constantly to see a pair of 

 birds hunting for mice, &c., in the late afternoon 

 about July and August, at the edge of the locli 

 where I was fishing, returning always to a certain 

 hill where the keeper had taken the nest before. I 

 saw none of these birds after the late autumn. 



Passeres. 

 Fam. Tnrdidcv. 

 Song Thrush (Turdus inuslcus). Very connnon in 

 the spring and autumn, but getting much scarcer as 

 autumn verges into winter. Quantities build in the 

 Westness garden. I heard a Thrush singing here on 

 tlie 29th of November, but it is rare to see one so 

 late here. 



Redwing (Turdus illacus). Not very connnon. 

 Arriving with the Fieldfares, but not so numerous. 



Fieldfare (Tardus pilaris). A few flocks seen 

 about the time of migration. 



Blackbird (Turdus merula). Common the year 

 round: breeding, though not so numerously as the 

 Thrush. They are, however, much commoner in the 

 winter, a dozen at a time being often visible on the 



