Birds. 7425 



some weighty object securely at the end of the string ; the stone being 

 thrown over the branch of course carries the string with it, and thus 

 the rope is drawn over. The rope being secured the ascent may be 

 made. 



In conclusion I may observe, with reference to the tawny owl [Strix 

 aliico), that although it may generally, as stated in Mr. Newman's most 

 useful paper on the nesting of British Birds (Zool. 7397), be found to 

 make use of the deserted nest of a crow, it in this neighbourhood 

 appears to give the preference to the nests of jackdaws situated in 

 hollow trees, or to hollows in trees unoccupied by nests, laying its eggs 

 upon the decayed wood. I have known three sets of eggs, the produce 

 of one pair of birds in one season, removed from hollow trees, the birds 

 selecting a fresh tree each time. My first specimens were fished up, 

 by means of one of the instruments I have described in this paper, from 

 a jackdaw's nest situated at the bottom of a hole upwards of four feet 

 deep, which took a slanting direction in the decayed limb of an aged 

 elm. These facts make me think it probable that in all neighbour- 

 hoods in which hollow trees abound — as they happen to do here, though 

 I question whether such a circumstance is of frequent occurrence in 

 this money-making age, landholders generally taking care to put all 

 the timber growing on their estates into their pockets before it has the 

 chance of becoming hollow — the tawny owl will be found more fre- 

 quently to resort to them for the purpose of incubation than to the 

 deserted nests of crows, magpies or rooks, in consequence of the former 

 situations affording a much greater degree of shelter, if not of security, 

 than the latter. 



S. Stone. 



Additions to Mr. Crotch's Notes on the Fauna of Shetland (Zool. 7337). — I perceive, 

 with regiet, that iu assisting Mr. Crotch to draw up his list of the birds of Shetland, I 

 accidentally omitted to mention several of the following species. The remainder were 

 observed subsequently to Mr. Crotch's departure from these islands. 



Phcenicura ruticilla. Last October I saw a tine male of this species in the garden 

 at Halligarth, immediately after a heavy gale from the S.W. 



Sylvia hortensis. Occasionally seen in autumn. 



Motacilla alba. Several years ago I observed a pairnear Lerwick. 



Fringilla carduelis. Rarely seen. 



F. canescens. A few small flocks, consisting entirely of males, appeared at intervals 

 during the month of October. Some betook themselves to the hills, while others 

 seemed to prefer the garden at Halligarth, where, for many days afterwards, they con- 

 tinued to exhibit their well-known partiality to the alder. I shot three, all of which were 

 distinctly tinged with rose-colour upon the breast. The stomachs contained seeds, a 



VOL XIX. S 



