1 902 Ottr Stmimer Migrants 1 89 



taken to Bala with the idea of keeping him ahve, but as he 

 seemed to be suffering it was thought best to put him out 

 of pain. 



The nest itself was a slight structure of dead rushes laid 

 on the bare earth, well hidden amongst bilberry and 

 heather quite three feet high, and extending for miles in 

 every direction. There were a few feathers in it which had 

 evidently dropped from the sitting bird. A quill feather is 

 seen in the illustration. The four eggs were pale bluish 

 white, entirely devoid of markings. They were very near 

 hatching, and as the hen was shot on June 21st we may 

 assume that the birds began to nest towards the end of 

 May. 



Montagu's Harrier is said to feed principally on small 

 reptiles and large insects, though it also eats small birds 

 and mammals. The stomachs of these contained feathers, 

 apparently of the Meadow Pipit. It is much to be regretted 

 that these came to such an untimely end through the ignor- 

 ance of keepers, for, even from their own point of view, the 

 birds are very harmless. I questioned the men on the point, 

 and they admitted that they had never seen the harriers 

 molest the grouse. Still, the birds being dead before any 

 one knew of their existence, the best course seemed to be 

 to collect and publish all available details concerning an 

 event which may never occur again in North Wales. Hence 

 this paper. 



The Dates of Arrival of Our Summer 

 Migrants. 



By W. Percival Westell, M.B.O.U. 



The following are the dates of arrival in various parts of the 

 British Isles of most of our summer migrants in igoi, as 

 collected by the writer. During the spring of that year I 

 received over one thousand separate records giving dates of 

 these first arrivals, and a few notes in regard thereto will, I 

 venture to think, be of interest and use to students of British 



