SAXBY : BIRDS OF SHETLAND. 123 



period, when, under other circumstances, the collector would be sure to reap a 

 rich harvest. It was only last year that I visited Uyra, a small island less 

 than half-a-mile distant from Unst, hut instead of being able to return the 

 same night, I was detained there for six days, a sudden rise in the wind 

 having rendered the Sound impassable. It Avill scarcely therefore be a matter 

 of surprise if some greater enthusiast than myself, or even perhaps some 

 one with more leisure than is at my own command, should hereafter not only 

 ' add numerous Anatidae to the list, but also mention as of comm.on occurrence 

 many of those species which I have marked as rare, and this will almost 

 certainly occur in the south of Shetland, my own observations having been 

 chiefly confined to the extreme north. The paucity of resident Insessorial 

 birds is easily accounted for by the total absence of trees and shrubs, except 

 in two or three small gardens, and also in a valley near Eona's Hill, where 

 a very few extremely small specimens of the mountain ash may still be 

 observed. With these exceptions I am safe in the assertion that heather is 

 the largest native wood ! There can be no doubt that since Dr. Edmondston 

 introduced trees into the island of Unst, many birds which used formerly to 

 pass over without checking their flight, now pause upon their way for awhile^ 

 and this I have most particularly observed with regard to the blackbird, the 

 brambling, the chaffinch, the crossbill, and several other species. The absence 

 of the red grouse from the list may surprise those who have enjoyed a season 

 in Orkney, where it abounds, and it is diflicult to say why the experiment of 

 introducing it has not been attempted in Mainland and Yell, where the 

 heather is tall enough to afford shelter. However, the propriety of making 

 the attempt is now being so seriously discussed, that I should not be 

 astonished if before very long the jail at Lerwick were to be enlarged, and 

 Shetland were at length able to rear its own " ticket-ofdeave men." 



While endeavouring to make this catalogue as brief as possible, I have 

 at the same time arranged it in its most useful form by availing myself of 

 the excellent method proposed by Mr. l!^^ewman in his appendix to the 

 " Letters of Rusticus," a method, which, if more generally adopted, would 

 considerably lessen the labours of the enquirer, in attempting to gain a 

 knowledge of the ornithology of any particular locality. Accordingly I 

 have arranged the species under five heads, viz — Resident Natives, Migrant 

 jSTatives, Winter Visitors, Passing Visitors, and Occasional Visitors, 



L RESIDEll^^T NATIVES. 



Of these there are thirty-three species all of which not only breed here, 

 but remain throughout the year. 



