BIRD NOTES FROM THE ISLE OF MAY IN 191 1 55 



Siskin, and a Mealy Redpoll favoured us with a visit. The 

 only fresh immigrants of 14th May were another Mealy 

 Redpoll, some Reed Buntings and Tree-pipits, but next day 

 a lot of birds were in (W. very light) ; more Fieldfares, two 

 Ring Ouzels, Wheatears and Greater Wheatears, Whinchats, 

 Redstarts, Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroats, a Blackcap, a 

 Garden-warbler, a lot of Willow-warblers, a Sedge-warbler, 

 two Mealy Redpolls, many Spotted Flycatchers, a good 

 many Swallows, some House-martins, and a Sand-martin 

 were to be seen. Some of these stayed for the next two 

 days, and on the 17th we had a fleeting visit from a beautiful 

 male Yellow Wagtail, an addition to the island list. Some 

 more Warblers, chiefly Sedge-warblers, arrived on the 18th; 

 next day all but one or two had passed on, and only small 

 numbers of our common migrants were seen till the 24th. 

 On this day there was a fresh arrival, the birds noted being 

 a Thrush (the only Thrush seen during our visit), Wheatears, 

 Greater Wheatears, Whitethroats, many Willow-warblers, 

 one or two Sedge-warblers, Spotted Flycatchers, Skylarks, 

 and a Cuckoo. Fieldfares had been on the island pretty 

 steadily since our arrival, but left on this day, and the last 

 Redwing passed on the 25th. On the 27th another rush of 

 Warblers took place (E. very light), a Garden-warbler, many 

 Whitethroats, Willow-warblers, and Sedge-warblers appeared, 

 as well as Whinchats, one or two Redstarts, a Spotted Fly- 

 catcher, Swallows, House-martins, a Linnet, Skylarks, a 

 Cuckoo, and a Corncrake. By next morning every Warbler 

 and most of the other birds had left, but we saw a Grey 

 Wagtail. On the 29th May, our last day on the island, 

 Wheatears and Greater Wheatears were still present, but all 

 had left by 1st June, as we were kindly informed by Mr 

 Evans. On the 29th we also saw a Whitethroat, a very 

 dilapidated Mealy Redpoll, and a Skylark, while on 1st 

 June Mr Evans records a Turtle-dove {Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 

 191 1, p. 184), and next day he saw a Fieldfare, a 9 Redstart, 

 two Swallows, a House-martin, and some Swifts. W r ith very 

 few exceptions, the birds on passage examined by us were 

 not nearly ready to breed ; even those procured as late as 

 27th May were obviously not just on the point of nesting. 



