6 REPORT ON THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 



which Mr. Burnett remembers. The Black Crow (?), Hooded 

 Crow, Snipe, Starling, Titlark, and House Sparrow are included 

 amongst residents. An occasional White-tailed Eagle is seen, 

 and several kinds of hawks. Of all the sea-birds the Petrel is 

 the only one that strikes on the lanterns. As it is usually in the 

 morning when the rock-birds are first seen on arrival in spring, 

 the time of their arrival is supposed to be during the night, and 

 the direction of their coming is unknown. — (Signed, Kobert 

 Burnett.) Mr. Burnett adds, '' The only rare bird I have heard 

 of in this neighbourhood was a Hoopoe." I paid a visit to the 

 Isle of May on June 24th, 1880, and made Mr. Agnew's personal 

 acquaintance. During a hurried visit of less than two hours my 

 companion and myself rowed round the cliff portion of the island, 

 and also landed and walked over a considerable part of the lower- 

 lying portion of at the N.W. end. We saw the following species 

 engaged in incubation : — Oystercatchers, Eider Ducks, Guillemots, 

 Kazorbills, Kittiwakes, and Rock Pipits. We searched in vain for 

 any species of Tern ; a single Redshank was seen. Mr. Agnew's 

 son saw a Black Guillemot a few days before, and Mr. J. H. 

 Buchanan, who was out in the S.S. 'Fiery Cross' the previous 

 Thursday, ''thought" he saw one also. The Agnews cannot say 

 if they breed there or not, but their being seen there occasionally 

 would make it worth while, if time permitted, to search carefully 

 the suitable clefts and caverns in the lower rocks. It was 

 reported to me that the sea-birds have increased greatly on The 

 May since the Sea-birds Bill came into force. The eggs, how- 

 ever, are still taken wholesale by fishermen from the Fife coast 

 and elsewhere. 



O^xs. — The only record occurs at Auskerry, where one was 

 seen after midnight on Oct. 21st, and remained about for some. 

 time ; exact species not noted. 



Note. — Curiously enough, on the same date, numbers of 

 Shoi*t-eared Owls were to be seen in the flesh in the birdstuffers' 

 shops in Edinburgh. This shows the value of even single records 

 at lighthouse stations, as, were p, not for the above Auskerry 

 record, the other fact would stand alone. 



Swallows. — Dm'ing the spring migration these were taken 

 notice of at Isle of May, Auskerry, and Sumburgh Head. The 

 earliest record is at Isle of May, on April 30th, when two were 

 seen flying N.W. at 10 a.m., flying with a light S.E. breeze, and 



