president’s address. 
516 
On one of the islands upon which we landed I espied through 
my glasses as we approached, a solitary old Gray Lag-Goose 
on the summit of a promontory, but by the time I had reached 
the top, a by-no-means-easy climb, he had gone, and I could 
find no trace of either his mate or young ones, though there 
was plenty of evidence that Geese had recently been on the 
island. Some of the Badcall Islands are heather-covered, 
whereas others have only grass growing on them ; and, 
contrary perhaps to what one might have expected, these 
Geese, so I was assured, nest only on those islands where 
heather grows. 
I found numbers of nests of the Common Gull, Lesser Black- 
backed and Herring Gulls, and on one of the smaller islands, 
composed of bare rock and but a very few feet above high- 
water mark, I came across several nests of the Oyster-catcher. 
There were several Eider Ducks, mostly males, swimming 
about the islands, but I only found one nest, which contained 
six eggs. There is a small colony — 100 pairs perhaps — of 
Arctic Terns that regularly breed on the Badcall Islands, 
but I do not think many eggs had been laid at the time of 
my visit. 
It is strange that a bird like the Common Wren should 
select such remote places as these islands for nesting purposes, 
in preference to the main-land, but such is one of the many, 
as yet unexplained peculiarities of this interesting little bird. 
I only saw one Wren when I made my visit, but I was assured 
by the keeper that a goodly number of this species breed on 
these islands. 
The photographs accompanying this paper were taken by 
Mr. W. Norrie, of Fraserburgh, to whom I wish to tender my 
thanks for permission to reproduce them. 
