318 BRITISH BIRDS. 



EARLY "DRUMVIING" OF SNIPE. 



On February 7th, 1911, a delightfully spring-like day, a Snipe 

 {Gallinago coelestis) was heard " drumming " close to my home 

 at Whiston. This is a very exceptional date — at any rate 

 for North Staffordshire — and I can only account for it when I 

 take into consideration the prevalence of unusually mild 

 weather for the time of year. We never expect to hear Snipe 

 " drumming " before mid-March, although previous to that 

 date they go through similar aerial movements without 

 producing a sound which is audible to anj'one standing be- 

 neath them. I might add that although Snipe have commenced 

 to " drum " so early. Skylarks, which generally are in full 

 song by Candlemas, have not yet begun to sing (Feb. 9th). 



Tom Smith. 



Rare Birds at the Isle of May. — Miss E. V. Baxter 

 and Miss L. J. Rintoul, whose good work we have frequently 

 had cause to mention, again visited the Isle of May in the 

 autumn of 1910, and made a number of interesting observa- 

 tions {Ann. S.N.H., 1911, pp. 1-6). The following interesting 

 birds are recorded, all being in 1910 : — Greenland Wheatear 

 {Saxicola oe. leucorhoa) — almost daily from September 6th 

 to October 12th. Lesser Whitetliroat [Sylvia curruca) — one 

 September 13th. Siberian Chiffcliaff {PhyUoscopus r. tristis) — 

 a single example of this very rare visitor was secured on 

 October 16th. Scarlet Grosbeak [Pyrrhula erythrina) — one 

 was obtained on September 7th. Ortolan Bunting [Emheriza 

 hortulayia) — twice seen. Lapland Bunting [Calcarius 

 lapponicus) — a young female on October 4th. Wood-Lark 

 {Alauda arborea) — one on October 16tli. Hoopoe {Upupa 

 epops) — one on October 1st. Sooty Shearwater [Puffinus 

 griseus) — one was watched on October 16th. 



White Wagtail Breedikg at Fair Isle. — In the course 

 of some interesting notes on the birds observed in north-east 

 Iceland, the Duchess of Bedford mentions (/&*.*, 1911, p. 1) 

 that during a flying visit to Fair Isle in the begimiing of July, 

 1910, some White Wagtails " which were evidently breeding 

 there again," were noticed. A pair of Motacilla alba bred in 

 Fair Isle in 1909 {vide supra, p. 30), and it should be noted 

 that it is doubtful if M. lugubris breeds in the Shetlands, 

 although it does so in the Orknej'S. 



Early Breedikg of the Kingfisher and Dipper in 

 Derbyshire in 1910. — In the " Zoological Record for Derby- 

 shire, 1910" {Derby Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc. Journal, 1911, 

 p. 215) the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain records the nest of a King- 



