REPORT ON SCOTTISH ORNITHOLOGY IN 1 92 I 75 



interesting note : " Linnets had practically deserted this 

 place for many years but they have been gradually in- 

 creasing for the last few years. I saw a flock of about two 

 hundred early in 192 1, and found a Linnet's nest; it is 

 thirty-two years since I saw a Linnet's nest before." This 

 species has also returned to the Isle of May as a breeding 

 species ; it was included in Dr Harvie-Brown's list of birds 

 nesting there, but this is the first year it has done so since 

 we went to work on the island. There were one or possibly 

 two pairs in 1921. Other species which returned to the 

 Isle of May this year were Wheatears and Terns ; they 

 too used to nest in days gone by but have not done so of 

 recent years. In each case a considerable number bred on 

 the island. Wheatears are also reported from Johnstone, 

 Renfrewshire, as having returned to old haunts from which 

 they have been absent for a good many years, and were 

 observed to be more plentiful than usual on the links at 

 Largo, Fife. There was a further increase in the number 

 of Stonechats nesting at Corsemalzie, Wigtownshire, and 

 Sand-martins were more numerous at Johnstone than for 

 some time. An increase in the number of House-martins 

 at Beith and in Dumbartonshire is reported ; this is doubly 

 interesting in view of the almost universal scarcity of this 

 species in the summer of 192 1. An extraordinary number 

 of Swifts are recorded from Crieff this summer, and they 

 are reported as being on the increase in Forfarshire. King- 

 fishers were more abundant in Lauderdale, and an increase 

 in the number of Herons nesting in Wood of Croy, near 

 Crathes Castle, is noted; about fifteen years ago there 

 were one or two nests, in 192 1 there were seven or eight 

 (i. 1922, 8). Redshanks had increased as a breeding bird 

 on the moors at Corsemalzie, v/here Curlew "again bred 

 very plentifully." Many Common Terns bred at Pladda, 

 Arran ; one nest with four eggs was found among the 

 numerous nests seen, the numbers breeding there being 

 estimated at 500 to 600 birds. 



Among the species reported to be decreasing we find 

 Spotted Flycatchers scarce at Kinglassie, Fife, Corsemalzie, 

 Wigtownshire, and Seggieden, Perth: Chiffchaffs and Willow- 



