OCCASIONAL NOTES. Q97 
are both females, and very closely resemble one another, the only difference 
being in the intensity of some of the colours, in which I think the former 
had slightly the advantage-—R. M. Curtsry (Saffron Walden). 
OrnitHoLocicAL Norges From Orkney.— Between May 18th and 
June 14th the following birds were observed by me in Orkney : —Several 
Marsh Harriers, which were very wary; their cry is peculiar, something 
like that of a Peacock, uttered in a higher key and slower; some of their 
eggs found by the boys on the moors were quite fresh. ‘The Wheatear was 
very common; most of them were sitting, but some had young ones. Of 
the Common Wren and Pied Wagtail I saw but few. Several Meadow 
Pipits were observed and nests found, some with young, and some with 
fresh-laid eggs; but this bird is nowhere numerous in Orkuey. The Rock 
Pipit, on the other hand, is common by the sea on the steep cliffs, where it 
builds; I found three nests, one with five eggs quite fresh, the others with 
young ones. The Sky Lark and the Common Bunting are everywhere 
abundant; the latter might be seen by every farmstead or cottage; it is 
called ‘“'Throstle-cock” by the natives, and does not build till June. The 
Yellow Bunting was occasionally seen, as also the Linnet. The Twite 
was common: I found several nests with young or with eggs hard-sat ; 
they were built in heather, especially among the cliffs near the sea. The 
House Sparrow was as common in Orkney as elsewhere. I saw several 
Hooded Crows and a few Rooks’ nests at Kirkwall. ‘The Cuckoo was once _ 
heard. The Rock Dove breeds in the cliffs. The Golden Plover was 
common, and at the date of my visit sitting. The Lapwing was everywhere 
abundant, and the young hatched. The Ringed Plover was equally 
abundant, breeding by the sides of lochs and tarns in gravelly places, 
sometimes at some distance from water in stony paths, but making no nest; 
the eggs were just hatching. The Redshank was very common, and just 
hatching ; it breeds in tufts of grass in waste places on the moors: the old 
birds were very noisy. The Common Sandpiper did not seem to be very 
common: I found one nest at the bottom of a stone wall on a small island ; 
the eggs were quite fresh on May 25th. The Dunlin was common enough, 
breeding generally near water in heather or grass: the eggs were fresh 
about May 17th. I found a few nests with fresh eggs of the Common 
Snipe. The Curlew, Landrail, Moorhen, Coot, and Wild Duck were all 
observed: the last named had fresh eggs. I saw several Widgeon, and 
found several nests of the Eider Duck in heather near the sea; the eggs 
fresh, and the nests contained a quantity of down. Gulls, as might be 
supposed, were very numerous. There are but few trees on the island, 
which may account for the scarcity of Thrushes and Blackbirds. I did 
not hear a Warbler or see either a Swallow or Robin.—H. G. Tomityson 
(The Woodlands, Burton-on-Trent), 
2Q 
