Birds. 9567 



head. This plan will answer even when they are sitting far out of shot 

 from the shore, for they rise so heavily that only a very slight eleva- 

 tion is attained by the time the first fifty or sixty yards have been 

 traversed. For similar reasons, sailing down upon them before the 

 wind affords a good chance, but an opportunity of doing so very rarely 

 occurs, owing to their preference for the lochs. 



Peregrine Falcon. — Birds of this species have been seen in couples 

 all the winter, but I have had no means of ascertaining whether these 

 were pairs. In Shetland, as in most other places, conjectures as to 

 the sex of a bird are so frequently erroneous, that although the state- 

 ment of the inhabitants that the peregrine "pairs for life" is probably 

 correct, it still requires confirmation. 



Heron. — Herons have not yet left. Flocks sometimes numbering as 

 many as twenty or thirty individuals are often met with near the sea, 

 sandy bays being preferred, especially such as are sheltered from the 

 wind. Low tides frequently tempt these birds to seek their food 

 among the rocks, although the slipperiness of the latter seems to 

 render their footing somewhat insecure. It is amusing to see a heron 

 running over them suddenly fall flat upon its side, a mishap that I have 

 witnessed more than once, but upon no occasion did the bird make 

 the slightest exertion to save itself by means of its wings. In every 

 specimen which has fallen into my hands, the claws, and especially 

 the hind ones, have always been much worn and blunted, as though 

 they had been ground down upon a coarse stone. In one, shot last 

 autumn, the claws had become reduced to mere stumps. 



Glaucous Gull. — There are still many glaucous gulls remaining, 

 but these are nearly all young birds, none of the old ones which left 

 us early in the season having yet returned. 



Greeujincli. — A few greenfinches are still lingering about the 

 gardens. All of those which flew into the houses and were captured 

 have now become quite tame ; but the old males at first displayed 

 considerable unwillingness to submit to restraint. Their chief food is 

 oats, of which they appear to be extremely fond. 



Fieldfare. — Early on the morning of the loth of February (wind 

 S.E.) about five hundred fieldfares arrived. Early next morning the 

 wind had changed to N.E., but not one was remaining. 



Common Bunting. — Several flocks of common buntings appear 

 here every winter, A few days ago an individual of this species, 

 having the middle of the back perfectly white, was seen by me in the 

 garden, where, singularly enough, I observed either that same one, or 

 another marked in a precisely similar manner, four years ago. As upon 



