LETTER X. 01 



end of June, and consequently I shall be absent the best part of 

 the egg season. 



I shall conclude with a few notes of the month : — 



May 1st. — Considerable flocks of Whimbrels arrived. I killed 

 three couple with great ease, and found them in very good con- 

 dition, which may be taken as a proof that their last stage was 

 not a very long or harassing one. These birds continue very 

 numerous during the whole of May, but as soon as June com- 

 mences they disappear as suddenly as they arrived. lona is not 

 one of their halting-places on their return south, for we are not 

 visited by them in autumn, except by an occasional straggler. 



May 12th. — The Terns and Corncrakes arrived. Their 

 appearance is so precisely punctual to the day, that I would as 

 soon date by it as I would by the almanac. The Herring Gull 

 {Larus argentatus) is with us far more common than the Lesser 

 Black-backed Gull (Z. fuscus), except at this time of the year, 

 when great numbers of the latter are seen in all the newly-sown 

 fields, busily eating the corn among flocks of wild Pigeons and 

 trespassing poultry. They are at such times extremely wary, 

 and indeed at all times they appear to be much more so than 

 the Grey Gulls. 



I shall now drop anchor, as I have been out all night in an 

 open boat — a two-masted skiff, with three reefs in the mainsail, 

 battling against a heavy sea and head wind blowing very hard. 

 I landed at five in the morning, well drenched with rain and 

 spray. 



