VOL XIV.] NOTES. 65 



in the air for minutes together, and were by no means wary. 

 Eventually they alighted, but I saw them on the wing on 

 several occasions later in the evening. On the previous 

 day Mr. H. Caunce had observed three Godwits in the 

 same locality, but being only acquainted with the Bar- 

 tailed species, he was puzzled by their tails and prominent 

 wing bars. F. W. Holder. 



DISAPPEARANCE OF NESTING SPECIES IN THE 

 SCILLY ISLES. 



It is never a pleasant duty to record the disappearance of 

 a nesting species from any locality, especially from such a 

 bird paradise as the Scilly Islands, but the fact remains 

 that certain species have gone, and that others from no 

 apparent reason are following them into oblivion. The most 

 marked case is that of the Kittiwakes {Rissa t. tridactyla) 

 which used to nest in large numbers in the western group 

 of islands off Menavawr. In the early 'fifties they left this 

 island for that of Gorregan, where they remained in full 

 force until the early 'seventies. Since then they have 

 gradually disappeared, until in 1900 there were only three 

 nests, these being the last of the Kittiwakes known to have 

 nested in the Scilly Isles. 



The Roseate Tern {Sterna d. dotigallii) was nesting in fair 

 numbers in Scilly up to the early 'forties,- but only a few 

 pairs were there in 1854 and it was last seen about 1867. 

 The same may be said of the Sandwich Tern {S. s. sandvicensis) , 

 which began to disappear about 1886, and has now completely 

 left the islands as a nesting species, a single nest only having 

 been found in 1903 — the last on record. On May 23rd, 1911, 

 I saw four on White Island in the eastern group ; they were 

 certainly not nesting, but in all probability, judging by their 

 flight, on passage. I also saw a pair fishing in Old Town Bay 

 on May 18th, 1914. 



The Arctic Tern (S. paradiscBo) has also disappeared, and 

 the Common Tern (S. hirundo), which took its place, is also 

 becoming scarcer every year as a breeding species. In 1911 

 they were fairly plentiful, but in 1914 the only nests I found 

 were on Guthers, where there were perhaps twenty or thirty 

 pairs nesting, but not a full clutch among them. The Common 

 Tern is a peculiar bird, however, and deserts a place for no 

 apparent reason for a year, or period of years (as I found at 

 Ravenglass, in Cumberland), generally returning sooner or 

 later : the same thing applies to the Sandwich Tern, as 

 I also found at Walney Island, in Lancashire, so we may yet 



