1920.] Letters, Extracts, and Notes. 733 



Birds of Texel. 



Dear Sir, — It was with some consternation that I saw in 

 Mr. Ticehurst's "Contribution to the Ornithology of the 

 Island of Texel '^ (Ibis, April 1920) reference made to a 

 list of the birds of tiiat island that I compiled thirty years 

 ago, in the first year of my stay on Texel. Since then 

 I have been able to rectify it considerably, and I find that 

 the statements regarding the Great Grey Shrike, Goshawk, 

 Wigeon, and Great Black-backed Gull should be with- 

 drawn, as I had been misinformed by the local men of 

 that time. 



The latest list of birds breeding on the Wadden Islands 

 is to be found in ' Ardea,' the Joui'nal of the Nederlandsche 

 Ornithologische Vereeuiging, November 1908, a translation 

 of Leege^s latest list, commented on by Messrs. Daakler, 

 v;in Pelt Leclmer, and niystdf. Even to that list some 

 additions have to be made, especially for the Texel. 



The Common Gull is now a constant, though rare, 

 breeder. The Black-headed Gull has increased consider- 

 ably in a big breeding colony in Waalenburg, on the 

 property of the '' Vereeuiging tot Behoud van Natuur- 

 monumenten.'^ In the same locality a colony of Sandwich 

 Terns is fiourishing and steadily increasing. The Arctic 

 Tern undoubtedly breeds in great numbers on Texel and 

 also on all the other islands. Montagues Harrier is a 

 much more common breeder than the Marsh Harrier. The 

 Kestrel has repeatedly been found nesting on the ground. 

 A Kingfisher bred in 1902 near the water-mill in " Het 

 Noorden," and the Swift nests in the larger villages. 

 Both the Tawny Pipit and the Grasshopper- Warbler are 

 fairly common breeders in the dunes, and the Nightingale 

 had a nest in 1913, 1914, and 1915, but has disappeared. 



Yours truly, 



Binneiiduin, Jac. P. Thijssk. 



Bloeiuendaal, 



2 May, 1920. 



