THE BIRDS OF SCILLY. 251 



July, 1868, and several were seen in 1901. The Corn-Bunting 

 nests at Scilly, but is very much commoner as a visitor late in 

 the autumn, when it occurs in flocks. The Yellowhammer is a 

 very rare autumn casual at Scilly. Pechell shot one in October, 

 1849, and saw another some years later. Only three specimens 

 of the Cirl-Bunting have been obtained — one in November, 1857, 

 one in December, 1859, and one at St. Mary's, Nov. 16th, 1905. 

 A single specimen of the Ortolan Bunting was shot by Pechell 

 on the top of a wall at Tresco Abbey on Oct. 7th, 1851 (Zool. 

 1851, p. 3277). The Keed-Bunting is an occasional visitor from 

 October to January, sometimes singly, sometimes in small parties. 

 It was last seen on Jan. 8th, 1904, near Tresco Abbey. The 

 Snow-Bunting is a regular bird of passage in the early autumn, 

 sometimes in pairs, usually in small flocks of six to twelve, and 

 on three occasions in parties of twenty-five to thirty. Stray 

 birds and small parties are not infrequent during the winter 

 months, and are occasionally noticed in March, April, and the 

 first week in May. The birds, as a rule, settle on the barest and 

 most exposed headlands, and their arrival appears to be in- 

 dependent both of wind and weather. They are, as a rule, 

 remarkably tame, and show little restlessness or uneasiness on 

 being approached. About four-fifths of the birds are young, 

 and, with the exception of a splendid adult male in full breeding 

 attire, shot by Dorrien- Smith on April 29th, 1890, have all, so 

 far as observed, been in autumn plumage. In this condition the 

 term " snowflake " is strikingly descriptive, for when a flock 

 pitches on an exposed headland on a dull grey day it looks 

 exactly like a scud of snow. 



The Starling is one of the earliest of the winter birds to 

 appear in the autumn. It arrives in long straggling irregular 

 flights, at times composed of many flocks, with smaller parties 

 intervening. Occasionally, on Tresco, towards the close of a 

 winter's afternoon, these birds for an hour or more make, a 

 veritable cloud as they wheel over some reed-bed or low planta- 

 tion selected for their resting-place. Their numbers, however, 

 fluctuate considerably from year to year, and also during the 

 course of the winter. As a rule, only a few stragglers are to be 

 seen after the middle of April, but some years ago, in the month 

 of May, a flock of about four hundred came from the direction of 



