Birds. 8817 



2lst; wbitethroat, 23rd; blackcap, 28tb ; martin, 28th ;— all at Paignton. Swift, 

 May 8tli, at Teignmouth. — Cecil Smith; Lydiard House, Taunton, October 10, 1863. 



Fascination of Birds by Light. — Some interesting remarks upon this subject (Zool. 

 8630) led me to make inquiries of the keepers of the North Unst (" Flugga") light- 

 house, who now inform me that after dark nights they constantly find birds, either 

 dead or disabled, lying outside the lantern. The various species of sea-fowl which 

 inhabit the neighbouring rocks, and which retire to rest before darkness has fairly set 

 in, seem to escape the danger ; h is chiefly the migratory kinds, and those whose habit 

 it is to fly by night, which suffer. Among these I recognize from description a spe- 

 cies of owl (shoiteared ?), a black-and-white wagtail, the snow bunting, the crossbill, 

 the snipe, the wild duck, the storm petrel. The latter occurs chiefly in spring and 

 autumn, very seldom at other times, and occasionally in such numbers that upwards 

 of a score have been picked up at one time by the men, who complain loudly of the 

 trouble caused by the birds vomiting oil upon the glass as soon as they strike against 

 it. One which, having been only slightly injured, was kept alive for some days, at 

 last managed to escape ; but as it descended towards the sea a great blackbacked gull 

 dashed after it, and, seizing the poor little bird in its bill, disappeared with it in the 

 cliff beneath. This was witnessed by two persons whose word maybe relied upon. 

 Golden plovers have now become very numerous, and are constantly upon the wing 

 during the early part of the night. One dark night in the beginning of this month, 

 as I was carrying a lantern over the hills near Burrafirth, several of these birds flew 

 close past, and once a whole flock came sweeping towards me, and, separating on 

 either side, passed almost within arm's reach, their shrill cries, rushing wings, and the 

 glancing white of their plumage, producing an effect not to be described, and utterly 

 bewildering at the moment. I have no doubt that some would have struck agaiust 

 the lantern, had it not been so constructed that the light, falling upon my figure 

 behind it, warned them in time. In the hope of gaining some useful information as 

 to the movements of some of our migratory birds, I have obtained from the light- 

 keepers a promise to send all future captures to me, at the same time carefully noting 

 the side of the lantern upon which they fall. Should the result prove interesting it 

 will, with the permission of the editor, be duly recorded in these pages. — Henry 

 L. Saxby; Baltasound, Shetland, September 26, 1863. 



Nesting and Eggs of various Birds. — I have had two nests of kestrels' eggs brought 

 in during the past season, the one containing five, the other six eggs. In the latter 

 nest five of the eggs were of the usual size and shape, namely, broadly oval, 2\ inches 

 long by 2^ broad, and weighed barely three-quarters of an ounce. The sixth egg was 

 very small; I think I never met with a smaller kestrel's ; it weighed a little less than 

 half an ounce, and was barely 2 inches long by If broad ; it was very richly marked, 

 quite clotted with colour, which seemed supplied in great profusion. The smaller egg 

 of the nest of five was very pale and faintly coloured. In a nest of sparrowhawk's • 

 eggs that I received was one of a pale blue-green, with only one small spot of light 

 yellow-brown. That useful bird the barn owl still breeds with us in some numbers, as 

 a rule in hollow trees, but I have known several instances of their nesting in the holes 

 of chalk-pits and cliffs, and I have known them breed in pigeon-colts on two or three 

 occasions. The longeared owl breeds here sparingly. I took a nest in a small fir- 

 plantation ; it contained two young, apparently about half-grown, and two eggs, which 

 I now have in my cabinet. The nest, I suppose, originally belonged to the crow, but 

 the owls had quite flattened it and spoiled its beauty ; it was so flat that the wonder 

 VOL. XXI. 3 T 



