president’s address. 
515 
Troglodytes parvulus (Wren). 
Linota flavirostris (Twite). 
Beyond the fact that these two species have been frequently 
seen on Handa during the breeding season, I have no further 
evidence that they nest on the island. 
One cannot make mention of Handa without referring also 
to the Badcall Islands, a group of some twenty small islands 
about four miles to the south of Handa. 
On a most perfect summer’s day (June 14th), and with 
just sufficient breeze to allow us to sail comfortably, I made 
a visit to several of these islands. My primary object was to 
obtain eggs of the Black Guillemot, but in this I was not 
successful, though we saw many of this species swimming 
and diving about. As is well known, the Black Guillemot 
lays her couple of eggs in crevices or slits in the rock, and very 
often at a considerable distance, sometimes many feet, from 
the surface, so that before you can find the nest you must 
previously have seen one of the old birds come out of the 
crevice, and then you must devise some suitable apparatus 
for bringing up the eggs to the surface. The whole proceeding 
is by no means an easy one, especially if the face of the rock 
is slippery and inclining towards the sea — conditions which 
fortunately for the birds, but unfortunately for the collector 
— only too often prevail. 
There are a few species of birds that nest on the Badcall 
Islands which do not nest on Handa. 
Of these I will mention : — 
Anser cinereus (Grey Lag-Goose). 
Anas boscas (Mallard). 
Mergus serrator (Red-breasted Merganser). 
Uria grylle (Black Guillemot). 
Larus canus (Common Gull). 
Sterna macrura (Arctic Tern). 
Procellaria pelagica (Storm-Petrel). 
VOL. VIII. 
M M 
