ST. KILDA AND ITS BIRDS. 369 



as none of the natives knew what they were. Two nests 

 were discovered whilst I was on the island. The first of 

 these with four fresh eggs was brought to me on the 

 evening of June 20th by a woman who was working on 

 the hill, and who found the nest by accidentally flushing 

 the bird from it. The nest morning I went with the 

 woman to the spot and got her to replace the nest in the 

 exact position in which she found it. It was a typical 

 snipe's nest placed in the centre of a tuft of coarse grass 

 high up on the side of one of the hills directly facing 

 Tillage bay. It was about 150 yards from a spot on the 

 hillside where I had flushed a snipe from a little rill 

 about a fortnight previously. Three days later the same 

 woman found another nest with three eggs on the opposite 

 side of the island, on a hill facing down into the Grlen. 

 This time the nest was left in situ, and on visiting it the 

 following afternoon I found that it still contained only 

 three eggs, and there was no sign of the bird. On going 

 to the spot again, however, on the following morning, 

 Tune 25th, the bird was on the nest, and I watched her 

 for some little time from a distance of only a few feet 

 before she flew off, so that the identification was com- 

 plete. The nest was then full clutched. The fact of 

 the snipe breeding in St. Kilda is, therefore, definitely 

 established. It is remarkable that fresh eggs should 

 have been obtained so> late in the season, since there is 

 every probability that they were first layings ; at any 

 rate it is quite certain that none had been taken by the 

 natives that season, previous to these. 



Larus argentatus (Herring Gull). 



This is " the common gull " of the natives. Whilst 

 pretty plentiful it cannot be exactly called abundant. It 

 breeds on all the islands, and on June 9th, on Soay, I saw 



