io THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



hitherto been detected in Scotland. Baird's Sandpiper 

 summers on the Arctic coast of America between Bering's 

 Straits and Hudson's Bay, and winters in Chili, Argentina, 

 and Patagonia. In this specimen the head and hind neck 

 are pale ashy brown, streaked with dusky, broadly on the 

 crown ; feathers of the mantle, scapulars, lower back, 

 secondaries, and wing coverts dusky brown, with darker 

 centres and white edges ; primaries, upper tail coverts, 

 and tail dusky brown, the outer feathers of the latter paler 

 and edged with white ; chin and throat white ; chest and 

 sides of the breast pale ashy brown tinged with buff, and 

 slightly streaked and spotted with dusky brown ; remainder 

 of under surface and axillaries white. Legs black. Wing 

 4-9 ins. Bill 0-9 in. 



It has been considered desirable to describe these birds, 

 as no description of them is to be found in any works 

 devoted to British birds. The plumage of Pine Bunting and 

 Baird's Sandpiper is that in which they are most likely to 

 occur as visitors to our islands. 



On the occurrence of the Woodchat Shrike 

 in Forth Area. 



By Leonora Jeffrey Rintoul, H.M.B.O.U , and Evelyn 



By the kindness of Mr Baigrie, assistant light-keeper on 

 the Isle of May, we are enabled to record the first authenti- 

 cated occurrence of the Woodchat Shrike {Lanius senator 

 senator = L. pomarinus of Saunders, etc.) for Scotland. A bird 

 of this species was taken at the lantern by him at 2 a.m. on 

 19th October 191 1, and sent to us. The wind had been 

 easterly for several days, and a great many birds had arrived on 

 the island. It is a young bird, mainly in the dress described 

 by Dr Hartert as the " nest-kleid." This species breeds in 

 north-western Africa and southern Europe. In the north its 

 breeding range extends as far as Belgium and Holland, and 

 it breeds locally in Germany ; it also nests in southern Russia 

 and Asia Minor. It occasionally strays to England, and 



