The Zoologist— Apkil, 1871. 2533 



Ornithological Notes from Shetland. By Henry L. Saxby, M.D. 



(Continued from S. S. Vl&L) 



1869. 



Turtle Dove. — Almost every year two or three stragglers appear 

 in Shetland. One which visited the garden at Halligarth about the 

 end of May remained until the middle of June, when it left one 

 calm night. 



Crane. — A crane, probably one of the two mentioned in the 

 'Zoologist' (S. S. 1763), was observed in various parts of Unst as 

 late as the end of June. It was most frequently seen upon the 

 hill-sides facing the north, at Cliff and Watley. It was so ex- 

 tremely wild that not one of the numerous gunners who unweariedly 

 followed it was able to obtain even a distant shot. 



Nightjar. — About three o'clock in the afternoon of the 22nd of 

 June, the sun shining brightly at the time, I shot a female nightjar 

 — a very rare visitor to Shetland — on a piece of rough moor near 

 Belmont. It rose suddenly from beside a small stone, upon the 

 slope of a hill facing the east. A careful examination convinced 

 me that the poor bird was not breeding. The stomach contained 

 the remains of small Coleoptera. 



Garden Warbler. — On the 27th of June a garden warbler came 

 to Halligarth, and remained there about a fortnight, delighting all 

 hearers with its melodious notes. Shetlanders who have heard this 

 bird or the blactcap warbler in their gardens still boast of a visit 

 from the nightingale; indeed so obstinate are they in this belief, 

 that even to suggest the possibility of a mistake is to risk a serious 

 quarrel. 



Twite. — At Baltasound twites are becoming even more numerous 

 than in former years within my own recollection. They now nest 

 regularly every year among the trees and shrubs. This season 

 there are many nests in the elders and gooseberry bushes, and one 

 in the top of a young ash, about ten feet from the ground. T am 

 anxious to know whether similar habits have been observed in 

 other parts of Scotland. Two sets of eggs are laid every season, 

 the same nest being used on both occasions when the birds are 

 unmolested. When once a brood has been hatched, the parents 

 will return to the spot year after year — often to the very same fork 

 of the branch from which the nest of the previous season has been 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. VI. B 



