128 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



always been someone on the spot, and within a short distance 

 of one of the most competent ornithologists who have ever 

 lived, namely, John Hancock. If ever any bird appeared which 

 was "out of the ordinary," it was sent straight to him or 

 Mr. Adamson, and although they probably often received 

 common species to identify, yet a rare bird was sure to have 

 careful and accurate attention. Ever since the building of a 

 house by John Ewen, some forty years ago, on the island, the 

 shooting was on the wane. More men came to shoot, and birds 

 learnt to shun the locality. On the erection of the lighthouse 

 about 1896 it was for the greater part entirely spoilt. The 

 birds avoided the "gap," being frightened by the unnatural- 

 looking object close by, and preferred to pass on the seaward 

 side. A year or so ago the island was connected to the main- 

 land by telephone, and the wire across the passage is a still 

 further cause of fear to the birds. They see the wire before 

 them, and rise up to avoid it, thereby passing out of range 

 of the shooters. Birds have several times struck against this, 

 and a Tern on one occasion flew straight into it and fell dead ; 

 Oystercatchers and Gulls have also been seen to stun them- 

 selves against it. Yet even now the commoner shore-birds are 

 seen, and so they will be as long as birds migrate ; for they 

 must pass up and down the coast, and some must go by 

 St. Mary's Island. But will they stop to rest as in former 

 days, or pass close to the shore ? I would hardly think so ! 



There is one thing which will testify to the frequency of the 

 visits of shooters more than anything. This is that the shot 

 used to be washed up by the tide in handfuls, and some even 

 assert that John Ewen collected it and sold it on the island, 

 which is entirely incorrect, although many of the shooters made 

 use of it again for their muzzle-loaders. Even in later years 

 my brother has frequently seen small quantities lying at high- 

 tide mark, or in the crevices in rocks. 



Opposite the island a small stream runs out, and some yards 

 from its mouth it has opened out and formed a sort of tiny 

 marsh. Occasionally Snipe and even an old duck used to 

 resort here to feed as dusk came on, and a sudden ap- 

 proach over one of the sandhills close by often resulted in a 

 shot. 



