416 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Owl, nesting among the rocks in the centre and west of the 

 island. 



Thirty years have passed since a thoughtful individual intro- 

 duced rabbits into Eigg, and they have multiplied at so great a 

 pace, that they have proved a valuable consideration to the fine 

 pair of Buzzards (Buteo vulgaris), which utter their melancholy 

 cry beside the overhanging cliff where their young are reared. 

 We have picked up their cast feathers as they circled over the 

 sea, occasionally troubled by the Herring Gulls which love to 

 buffet their formidable neighbours. 



Whether the Golden Uagle has ever bred in Eigg is more 

 than doubtful, but from time to time the island receives a visit 

 from one of those that nest in Rum. When Mr. W. Macpherson 

 visited friends in Hum in 1833, he was playfully rallied on 

 the visits paid by " Dr. Macpherson's Eigg Eagles" to the 

 flocks in the sister island. At that time, at least three eyries 

 in Eigg were tenanted by the White-tailed Eagle, and a pair 

 nested there until 1879, when they were driven away by the 

 malevolence of an English gentleman. A report that Eagles 

 nested in Eigg in 1887 appears to be ill-grounded. A female of 

 this species which attracted the admiration of our friend the late 

 Mr. R. Gray, was killed in the island some years ago, in conse- 

 quence of its continued depredations on young lambs. It proved 

 to have lost three toes in a trap, and was not an Eigg bird, but a 

 visitor from some other quarter. The Sparrowhawk occurs as 

 a straggler from the mainland ; the Peregrine rears its young in 

 safety in most seasons, but this year we were pained by tlie 

 apparent absence of both old and young birds. The value of the 

 Kestrel in checking the increase of the Short-tailed Fieldmouse 

 (Arvicola agrestis) can hardly be exaggerated. Fortunately a good 

 many pairs breed, and we have had both live Kestrels and 

 Buzzards brought to us as pets. 



The Hebrides offer a scanty subsistence to Wood Pigeons 

 (Columba palumbus), but a few pairs nest in the island almost 

 every year ; even the hardy Rock Dove (C. livia) is pinched in 

 winter ; four of the Eigg caves are inhabited by these birds. 

 The introduction of the Partridge has succeeded, and a few 

 coveys are bred annually on the east side ; but the Hooded 

 Crows have proved very detrimental to the increase of Grouse. 

 In the winter of 1878-9, some Water Rails frequented a wet 



