210 BIRDS. 



Mr. Spence was informed by Mr. Duncan Eobertson, that 

 when he was in Sanday in July 1879 he shot a specimen of this 



bird in a pool near . The same day he saw three 



others, old birds, and, in another place, a pair of old birds with 

 five or six (sic) newly-hatched young ones. Mr. Robertson adds : 

 " I have only once seen one on the Mainland, and that was shot 

 at the loch of Carness about thirteen years ago." 



Our own experience of this bird in Orkney in 1888 is as 



follows. Landing on , we met our valued correspondent, 



Mr. Harvey, who had come over on business. He showed us first 

 of all a small pool near the sea-beach covered with a white 

 flowering plant and some bushes and long grass growing in it, 

 where, the previous year, two old birds had been shot by a 

 gentleman before the young could fly; there were no birds 

 there at the time of our visit. We then went across to another 

 small loch, where Mr. Harvey had already seen some of these 

 birds, and where, to our great delight, we found some seven or 

 eight. We hunted for their nests, but could not find any; 

 probably we were too early, and, in any case, our time was too 

 limited to make a very thorough search. As always described, 

 the birds were very tame, swimming about after insects, some- 

 times going along the water with outstretched neck as if stalk- 

 ing one, at another time leaping up as if to take one off a reed. 



We were informed by a correspondent that the Phalaropes 

 are at last beginning to get up their numbers now in some 

 places since their almost total extermination, and it is earnestly 

 to be hoped that such slaughter may not occur again. 



Phalaropus fulicarius, L. Grey Phalarope, 



A rare visitant, and we have only one or two notes of specimens 

 obtained. 



One we saw in the collection of Mr. Denison of Brough, in 

 July 1888, which had been obtained in the island of Sanday. 



Mr. Irvine-Fortescue shot one at Swanbister on October 

 26th, 1881 ; it was exceedingly tame, and fluttered on the slight 

 ripple breaking on the beach, just where the waves were actually 

 curling over, apparently seeking food. Another was shot in 



