96 BIRDS. 



almost all round. ... In one of the glens I once found a nest 

 with four eggs, one of which I took, and still have in my pos- 

 session as a proof that the bird does breed in Orkney." 



Sub-family CINCLINJE. 



Cinclus aquaticus, Bechst. Dipper. 



It seems strange that this bird, so common throughout Sutherland 

 and Caithness, should be almost entirely absent in Orkney, as 

 there are sufficient burns in some of the islands to enable a few 

 to get a living. Whatever is the cause, we can at present put 

 on record only one instance of its occurrence. A bird of this 

 species was seen at Rack wick Burn, Hoy, by Mr. Arthur Dendy 

 and Mr. Moodie-Heddle at the end of August 1883. 



Sub-family SAXICOLIN^E. 

 Saxicola cenanthe (L). Common Wheatear, 



Orc.=Stanechat Chack Chacko (B. and H.). 



A very common summer visitant to all the islands, sometimes 

 breeding in Hoy at an elevation of between 1100 and 1200 feet. 

 Buckley noticed that at Rousay they greatly frequented the 

 stony beaches, probably attracted by the number of flies bred 

 in the rotting sea-weed. 



The prejudice against these birds, mentioned by Low, seems 

 to have died out, at least we never met with any one who 

 wantonly destroyed them, as seems to have been done in his 

 time. 



Pratincola rubetra (L.). Whinchat, 



We have little to add to our information regarding this bird since 

 Baikie and Heddle wrote. Mr. Moodie-Heddle tells us that 

 Whinchats have bred for some years near Melsetter, and also 

 in a valley near the burn of Berriedale, both in Hoy. In 

 the former place we saw a female on June 1st, 1888, the only 

 occasion on which we observed the species in Orkney that year, 

 but the season was intensely cold and stormy, and therefore 

 very unsuitable for seeing the soft-billed summer migrants. 



