PREFACE. VI 



may be taken as 200 ; about 70 non-breeding wanderers have 

 occurred fewer than six times, and 59 others are more or less 

 infrequent visitors ; while 38 species annually make their appear- 

 ance on migration or during the colder months, in some portion of 

 our long, narrow group of islands or the surrounding waters. 



Owing to the necessity of compression I have had frequent occa- 

 sion to regret the impossibility of mentioning the names of many 

 authorities for much and varied information, and even now I fear that 

 some may have been accidentally omitted. My thanks — which can- 

 not be apportioned — are rendered to Lt.-Col. H. M. Drummond-Hay, 

 Col. H. W. Feilden, Lt.-Col. Irby, the Lord Lilford, the Rev. H. A. 

 Macpherson, Professor Newton, Sir John W. P. Campbell Orde, Col. 

 E. Delme Radcliffe, Capt. S. G. Reid, ^Messrs. Aplin, R. M. Barring- 

 ton, E. Bidwell, G. Bolam, E. Booth, Abel and A. C. Chapman, W. 

 Eagle Clarke, John Cordeaux, H. E. Dresser, Henry Evans (Derby), 

 William Evans (Edinburgh), H. Giitke, J. H. Gurney jun., J. E. 

 Harting, R. J. Howard, A. G. :More, E. C. Phillips, W. H. St. 

 Quintin, H. Seebohm, R. Service (Dumfries), G. Sim (Aberdeen), 

 R. Bowdler Sharpe, Cecil Smith, Thomas Southwell, R. J. Ussher, 

 Robert Warren, and John Young : while, in addition to providing 

 many details respecting distribution, Messrs. Harvie-Brown and 

 Buckley (through their courteous publisher, Mr. D. Douglas of 

 Edinburgh) allowed me the great advantage of consulting the 

 advance-sheets of their ' Fauna of the Outer Hebrides.' Beyond 

 all, I am indebted to Mr. A. H. Evans of Cambridge, who has gone 

 over the proof-sheets, arguing and threshing-out points on which 

 our experiences differed, suggesting alterations in phraseology, and 

 rendering infinite assistance. I" a work of the present nature an 

 author is necessarily indebted in no small degree to the experiences 

 of others ; and, far from captiously criticizing the writings of prede- 

 cessors, each successive compiler should remember how much is due 

 to previous and often unacknowledged labours. 



H. S. 

 7 . Radnor Place, Hyde Park, W. 

 \A^h October, 18S9. 



