The Lesser Whitethroat in the Obiter Hebrides, 159 



Whitethroat is a summer visitor to Scotland as far north as 

 the Firth of Forth, Stirlingshire, and Argyllshire. 



Before proceeding to discuss the bird's status as a Scottish 

 species, it is desirable to recall the few records relating to 

 this bird's occurrence in Scotland. These, so far as they are 

 known to me, are given in chronological sequence below. 



Seen at Musselburgh Haugh, near Edinburgh ; and in Ayrshire 

 (Rennie's Edition o^ Montague's Orn. Dict.^ p. 31, 1831).^ 



East Lothian, "breeding" in 1838 (Hepburn); Wallhouse, 

 Linlithgowshire, male seen in May 1838 (Weir) ; Hamilton, 

 Lanarkshire, *' common" (Young); seen near Edinburgh 

 (Macgillivray), (Macgillivray, Brit. Birds, il p. 358, 1838). 



Linlithgowshire, nest and eggs found, June 13, 1839 (Weir). 

 Nest and one of these eggs sent to Macgillivray (op cit.^ 

 iii. p 729, 1840). 



Unst, Shetland, 22nd September 1865, one; another, 23rd. 

 " Observed it twice since." '* Rarely met with " (Saxby, 

 Birds of Shetland, p. 74, 1874). 



•* Very rare " in East Lothian (Turnbull, Birds of East Lothian, 

 1867). 



Has been obtained in Argyllsl ire, and probably breeds near 

 Loch Lomond (Gray), (More, Ibis, 1865, p. 25). 



Sparingly met with in Dumbartonshire, and extends to Mid- 

 Argyllshire (Gray, Birds of the West of Scotland, p. 95, 

 1871).2 



Observed on 10th August 1880, at Traigh, South Morar, West 

 Inverness-shire (Hamilton, Zool., 1880, p. 503). 



'* I have only once been able to identify this species here " 

 [Berwick-on-Tweed]. "Two were shot, one on the 14th, 

 the other on the 26th September 1881 " (G. Bolam, Ann. 

 Scot. Nat. Hist., 1897, p. 9). 



One killed at Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, 4th November 1880; and 

 another seen Mill of Tifty (G. Sim, of Gourdas, Scot. Nat., 

 vi. p. 13, 1881). 



1 In the following abstracts additional information only is quoted. Some 

 of the authors repeat the statements of previous writers, and without 

 acknowledgment. 



- It is surprising that Gray contents himself with these mere statements 

 concerning sach a rare and interesting Scottish species, and especially so 

 when treating of the Birds of the West of Scotland. The evidence was 

 probably hearsay. 



VOL> XIV. L 



