BIRDS. 221 



Mr. Watt has shot several at Skaill, always at the end of 

 August or beginning of September; the last he got were in 

 1884. 



Mr. Keid killed some in Sanday at the end of September 

 1863; and the late Mr. Strang of Lopness told Mr. Spence 

 that he thought about twenty brace of these birds were annually 

 shot in that island. 



In the spring of 1883 we heard a Greenshank in Rousay, the 

 only occasion on which we met with the species in Orkney. 



Limosa lapponica (L.). Bar-tailed Godwit. 

 Orc. = Tang Wliaup (B. and H.). 



We have received very few notices of the occurrence of this species. 



Low in his Tour, page 51, mentions having shot several 

 God wits about the shores of Holm, " being not at all shy, and 

 easily come at ; this species is but scarce in Orkney, flying in 

 flocks of a dozen, only seen in winter." This would most likely 

 refer to the present species. 



Mr. Watt has met with this species on the sands of Skaill, 

 but marks it as rare. 



Mr. Harvey says it is an occasional autumn visitant to 

 Sanday, and we saw a stuffed specimen in the collection of Mr. 

 Denison of Brough in that island. Another was caught there 

 on October 28th, 1878, by Mr. James Barnett, with its wing 

 cut off by the telegraph wire. 



There is also a Bar-tailed Godwit stuffed, and in the 

 possession of Mr. Scarth of Binscarth. 



Mr. Irvine-Fortescue shot one out of a flock of half-a-dozen, 

 at Tankerness, on February 27th, 1885, the only occasion on 

 which he saw the bird. The skin is now in his possession. 



Mr. Monteith-Ogilvie shot a bird of this species in Sanday 

 on December 4th, 1889, the only one he saw, but he was told 

 they were common (probably during the migration). 



Limosa aegocephala (L.). Black-tailed Godwit. 



[Obs. This bird is mentioned by Messrs. Baikie and Heddle as 

 occurring in the Orkneys, but they give no dates or particulars. 



