298 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



repeatedly seen by David Smith at Tresco. In a copy of Carew's 

 ' Survey,' in the possession of the late W. J. Clyma, of Truro, 

 among a number of notes in an unknown hand was one that ran 

 as follows : — " Three of the remarkable birds called Bee-eaters 

 were seen on St. Agnes, Scilly, by my boatman Hicks on the 9th 

 of May (1841) one of which was shot and fell into the sea, but 

 was recovered and brought to me. As far as I could ascertain, 

 it was a young female, but the skin was so much damaged that 

 I did not preserve it." 



The Hoopoe is a regular spring bird of passage, singly and in 

 small parties. In April, 1903, five were seen together on Castle 

 Down, Tresco. So far it has not been observed in the autumn. 

 The Cuckoo arrives in fairly large numbers at the time of spring 

 migration, at which time nine have been seen at one time from 

 a window in one of the houses at Holy Vale. The earliest 

 authenticated date for its appearance on the islands is March 

 29th, 1904, when it was seen by Dorrien-Smith on St. Mary's. 

 On April 2nd of the same year it was seen by two other 

 naturalists. As a rule, it is not observed till the middle of that 

 month, or even later. During the breeding season it is much 

 commoner here than anywhere else in Cornwall. 



The only example of the Barn-Owl known to have occurred in 

 Scilly was shot by Jenkinson on Nov. 13th, 1858. Both the 

 Long-eared and the Short-eared Owls are common in autumn 

 and winter, often in small parties in which the two species not 

 infrequently occur together. The former prefer Tresco, and 

 coveys of four or five may occasionally be flushed out of a single 

 tree, but the latter seem to occur on all the islands where the 

 bracken patches are large enough to supply convenient shelter. 

 The Tawny Owl has not been seen at Scilly. The Snowy Owl is 

 represented by a single specimen, shot on St. Martin's in 

 September, 1905, and now in the Abbey collection. The only 

 specimen of Scops Owl known with certainty to have occurred 

 on the islands was captured in an exhausted condition by 

 Christian Holliday on Tresco on April 13th, 1847. It is figured 

 by Gould in his ' Birds of Great Britain,' and is one of the 

 treasures in the collection at Trebartha Hall. All three Harriers 

 are casual visitors at Scilly. Of the Marsh-Harrier, one was 

 seen by Pechell in 1849 ; one (a female) shot by him towards the 



