Birds. 9485 



frequently been molested ; if otherwise, they are nearly sure to return 

 to the same field after the cause of alarm has disappeared. But they 

 seldom alight immediately ; the flock descends with a gradual sweep, 

 suddenly contracts its dimensions as the ground is approached, wheels 

 rapidly when within a few feet of the surface, and rising again flies off 

 to a considerable distance before venturing to return, and these 

 manoeuvres may be repeated a score of times before it will settle upon 

 the chosen spot. When the flock has finally resolved to alight, it 

 wheels repeatedly and rapidly, and then drops rather suddenly. Snow 

 buntings upon the wing keep up a constant chirping, and occasionally 

 a sudden jarring cry may be heard : as this is usually followed by a 

 rapid deviation by the flock from its course, it has been thought by 

 some observers to be nothing less than a word of command ; but I have 

 lately been able to account for it, almost completely to my satisfaction. 

 On watching with a little patience, any person may see that simul- 

 taneously with the utterance of the peculiar sound, one bird makes a 

 rapid dart towards a near neighbour, and the two, in their excitement 

 forgetting to direct their course aright, depart from the common track, 

 thus leading the whole flock astray, for birds upon the wing are 

 always ready to imitate any sudden movement upon the part of an 

 object near them, whether the latter be a stone thrown among them 

 or one of their number falling to the ground. That the note in ques- 

 tion is sometimes one of anger I have repeatedly observed when two 

 birds were quarrelling over their food; but it must also have some 

 other meaning, for it is uttered in chorus by the whole flock during 

 the performance of those rapid wheels close to the surface which 

 I have above attempted to describe. Seen against a dark hill-side or 

 a lowering sky, a flock of these birds presents an exceedingly beautiful 

 appearance, and it may then be seen how aptly the term " snow- 

 flake" has been applied to the species. I am acquainted with no 

 more pleasing combination of sight and sound than that afforded 

 ■when a number of these birds, backed by a dark gray sky, drop as it 

 were in a shower to the ground, to the music of their own sweet 

 tinkling notes. Notwithstanding the many careful descriptions con- 

 tained in various works, there is still much to be learnt regarding the 

 changes of plumage which occur in this species. 



Woodcock. — Woodcocks are very rare in Shetland. On the 3rd of 

 November I saw one rise from among some dead leaves in the garden 

 at Halligarth. This was during rather rough weather from the N.E. 



Water Rail. — On the 7th of November, during a strong N.E. wind, 

 a pair of water rails visited that same angle of the walk to which 



