256 Miss Baxter and Miss Rintoul on the [Ibis, 



our diagnosis confirmed, we sent some to Professor Sutlier- 

 laud of University College, Dundee, who kindly examined 

 them for us and told us that our impression was correct. 

 There had been a long drought, the island was parched and 

 the grass dried up ; this probably caused a shortage of their 

 usual food supply, which on the I>le of May appears largely 

 to be a small beetle found among the grass. 



We now come to the depredations of the birds of prey. 

 Merlins, Kestrels, and Short-eared Owls come with the 

 flocks and harry them. Peregrines, too, slay many of the 

 migrants — we have seen them hunting or eating all sizes of 

 birds, from a Wood-Pigeon to a Goldcrest. We have seen 

 Short-eared Owls chasing the birds that were circling in the 

 rays of the lantern : that their hunts were all too successful 

 was proved by the discovery of small heaps of dead birds in 

 tufts of grass on the north plateau, where these Owls were 

 living. Often these birds were minus the primaries of one 

 or both wings, and sometimes the rectrices had been plucked 

 out too. Thrushes seemed to be their chief fare, but we 

 also found the remains of Redwings, Chaffinches, Spotted 

 Flycatchers, Meadow-Pipits, Skylarks, Wheatears, a Bunt- 

 ing (probably a Reed), Goldcrests, a Turnstone, and Common 

 Terns. There seemed to be regular larders, where the birds 

 were kept till the Owls were ready to eat them. 



Under certain weather conditions the lantern is a very 

 great danger ; given a night of fine rain or haze, preferably 

 with a south-east wind, the light proves a fatal attraction 

 and hundreds of birds are lured to their doom. We have 

 stood on the balcony and watched the birds dash themselves 

 at great speed against the glass and fall dead at our feet, 

 often with the whole of one side cut as cleanly open as if it 

 had been done with a knife. After a "lantern night^' many 

 disabled birds might be seen on the island next day, but 

 what struck us most about these was the wonderful way in 

 which they recovered from their injuries. One Wheatear, 

 in particular, interested us greatly: it had a very badly 

 smashed wing and we were doubtful of its recovery, but day 



