310 BRITISH BIRDS. 



E VERSMANN'S WARBLER {PH YLLOSCOPUS 

 BOREALIS) AT FAIR ISLE. 



A NEW BRITISH BIRD. 



On September 28th, 1908, while Mr. W. Eagle Clarke was 

 pursuing his investigations (frequently referred to in these 

 pages) of the migration of birds at Fair Isle, he put up out of 

 a patch of potatoes a dark-coloured Willow- Warbler, which 

 he at once suspected belonged to a species he had never seen 

 before. He was fortunate enough to secure the bird, which 

 proved to be an undoubted example of Eversmann's Warbler 

 {Phylloscopus borealis), a species which has not previously 

 been detected as occurring in the British Isles. This species 

 has only once before occurred in Western Europe, viz., at 

 Heligoland on October 6th, 1854. It summers in Finmark, 

 Northern Russia and Siberia, and winters in Burma, Malaya, 

 China, etc., and, as Mr. Clarke remarks, it would be interesting 

 to know where the European contingent passes the winter, 

 " for it is difficult to believe that there are no winter retreats 

 for this species nearer than the eastern sections of Southern 

 Asia " (c/. Ann. S.N.H., 1909, pp. 1 and 2). 



H. F. W. 



LITTLE OWL IN HAMPSHIRE. 

 Having seen the article on the spreading of the Little Owl 

 in British Birds, I thought it worth while to send you a 

 record of one being shot near Petersfield, Hants, on December 

 26th, 1908. Wliile driving one of the hangers it dashed out 

 from amongst some thick ivy bushes, and was shot by a friend 

 who mistook it for a W^oodcock or large Snipe. 



A. W. Marriage. 



MONTAGU'S HARRIER IN IRELAND. 



AMo'STAGTj's'H.Anni^n {Circus oeruginostis) in immature plumage 

 was shot about September 10th, 1901, at Castle Flemyng, 

 Queen's co. My informant is the owner of the specimen, on 

 whose estate it was shot. It has not hitherto been specially 

 recorded in print, but it makes the eleventh occurrence of 

 this bird in Ireland, to which I allude in my "List of Irish 

 Birds" (p. 27). All the other examples have been taken in 

 or near the co. Wicklow (c/. antea, Vol. I., p. 318). 



R. J. USSHER. 



ICELAND FALCON IN SCOTLAND. 



A FEMALE (? adult) Iceland Falcon {Falco islandicus) was 

 received by me in the flesh on December 19th, 1908. It was 



