Tlic Summer Birds of Shetland. 547 



Now that this bird has been found breeding on the maiidand 

 of Scotland (Messrs Harvie-Brown and Buckley, " Fauna of 

 Sutherland," pp. 138-142), we may expect to hear of its nest- 

 ing elsewhere. During Saxby's stay in Shetland (he left in 

 1871) he procured no less than four nests, all from the same 

 spot, the summit of Saxavord in Unst. 



15. Common Bunting {Emheriza miliaria), (Cornbill, 

 Bunton). — The bunting cannot be called common in any 

 part of Shetland, though a pair or two may be seen in many 

 places, usually perched on the telegraph wires, a habit which 

 I have noticed they are very fond of in the vicinity of Edin- 

 burgh. 



16. House Sparrow {Passer domesticus). — This truly para- 

 sitic bird is, as we might expect, as common in Shetland as 

 elsewhere ; wherever there are a few houses the sparrow 

 is sure to be seen, as impudent and familiar as farther south. 

 It is particularly abundant in Lerwick, Scalloway, and Walls, 

 and nests in the thatch of every hamlet. 



17. Twite {Linota flavirostris), (Lintie). — The mountain 

 linnet divides with the wheatear the distinction of beino- 

 the most characteristic small bird of Shetland, and is generally 

 distributed. The nests, like those of the wheatear, are rather 

 difficult to find, being usually placed under a peatbank or in 

 a tuft of heather. One, however, which I came upon while 

 looking for gulls' eggs, was placed under a loose stone about 

 50 feet down a high and steep cliff. Another was placed in 

 a turf wall. 



18. Starling {Sturnus vulgaris), (Starn). — Is very abundant, 

 breeding in large colonies in the cliffs, in houses, dry stone 

 walls, and under the stones on the beaches of the island 

 of Oxna — where Hewitson found the storm petrel nest- 

 ing. 



19. Eaven {Corvus corax), (Corbie). — The raven may still 

 be fairly termed common. In 1887 there were few days on 

 which I did not see several of these birds. On the 27th May 

 I put one off her nest at Burland, and on the 31st saw another 

 nest-site, from which the young had not yet flown, at Feideland 

 Point. In Walls, on the 10th June, I came upon a family party 

 of two old and three young, the latter of which were barely 



