228 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



find any trace of this bird. No one else among the 

 ornithologists who have visited the island makes any 

 allusion to this species. I made enquiries among the 

 natives concerning this bird, and found that none of 

 them had ever seen it. Donald Ferguson, the oldest 

 man in St Kilda, aged ']'], informed me that his father 

 had told him that Doves used to breed in a cave near 

 the Point of Coll, the north-east promontory of Hirta. 

 The small amount of land under cultivation, and the 

 limited area of low land, probably render the island little 

 suited for the requirements of this species. The area 

 under the spade is no doubt less now than in times 

 past. 



^TuRTUR TURTUR, Tttrtle-Dove. — A young female 

 appeared on 13th September 1910. When first seen it 

 was being hotly pursued by a number of Meadow- Pipits, 

 which had evidently mistaken the bird for some species 

 of hawk. The Turtle- Dove has seldom been reported 

 from the Outer Hebrides, and had not previously been 

 recorded for St Kilda. 



Dr Wiglesworth writes me that he received an 

 immature bird which had been obtained in September 

 1902, and that a second was seen at the same time. 



In 191 1 one was seen on the side of Oisaval on 

 7th September, and a bird of the year appeared in the 

 crofts, pursued by Pipits, on the 19th. 



Lagopus mutus, Ptarmigan. — The Rev. Neil 

 Mackenzie informed Wilson (ii., p. zl\ i^^ iS4i> that on 

 one winter day he had seen a single Ptarmigan on the 

 hillside, the wind previous to its appearance having 

 been from the east. 



Crex crex, Corn-Crake. — This species, under the 

 name of ''Craker," has a place among the birds 



