Ornithology of St. Kilda. 359 



ACCIPITER NISUS. 



The Sparrow-Hawk must now be added to the list of 

 St. Kilda birds. Mr. Mackenzie observed on the 7th of 

 June an example several times on Mullach-Scall^ the large 

 shoulder which bounds Village Bay on the south-west^ op- 

 posite to the island of Doon. It may breed there. 



Troglodytes hirtensis. 



I am sorry to hear that the St. Kilda Wrens '* are not 

 nearly so numerous as last year.^' Mr. Mackenzie found 

 two nests built in the " cleats " (stone hovels in which the 

 sheep take refuge during rough weather and where the St.- 

 Kildans dry their hay)^ each containing six much incubated 

 eggs, so that this number is probably the full clutch. One 

 of the nests and five of the eggs are now before me. The 

 eggs, when blown, are pure white in ground-colour, boldly 

 spotted and minutely freckled with brownish red, and with 

 a few indistinct paler underlying markings which in some 

 cases approach violet-grey. The spots are most numerous 

 on the large end of the egg, where they form an irregular 

 zone, but on one specimen they are more evenly distributed 

 over the entire surface. These eggs very closely resemble 

 typical eggs of the Great Titmouse {Parus major) ; but 

 others are pure white, without spots of any kind, these cha- 

 racters running through an entire clutch. In shape also they 

 resemble those of the Great Titmouse, but others seen by 

 Mr. Mackenzie were almost as much pointed at one end 

 as at the other. The eggs that I have received vary in 

 length from '72 to "69 inch, and in breadth from '58 to "55 

 inch. The nest accompanying them is a very beautiful struc- 

 ture, and was built in a crevice of one of the " cleats." It 

 closely resembles that of the Common Wren, bu.t appears 

 to be a trifle more open and not so globular. The outside is 

 almost exclusively made of moss, with here and there a 

 scrap of dried grass, the inside being lined abundantly with 

 feathers, especially those of the Starling, Crow, and Gull. 

 An interesting feature in the materials of this nest deserving 

 of notice is the abundance of hair in the lining. No horses 



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