66 
MERULIDiE. 
extremely fat. Macgillivray^' considers it strange that he has 
found seeds and portions of berries in the intestines, adding, 
“ This is the only instance in which I have found seeds and 
large fragments of vegetable matter in the intestines of a bird.” 
I have upon many occasions discovered these substances in the 
intestines of the Eing Ouzel, Song Thrush, and Blackbird. 
I observed a Eing Ouzel upon the hills near the burn of 
Whatley in June 1863, and one at the same spot in October 
1864. The locality appeared suitable for breeding, but there 
is no authentic record of the nest having been found in any 
part of Shetland. When this bird descends to low grounds, 
distant from any better cover, it keeps to the shelter of walls, 
avoiding its pursuers by Hying swiftly along the foot of the 
wall, and then with a sudden jerk disappearing over the top, 
and continuing its low rapid flight upon the opposite side. 
IV. SYLVIADJ^. 
THE HEDGE ACCENTOE. 
Accentor modularis. 
Although it is not improbable that the Hedge-sparrow may 
occasionally have been observed among the gardens in the 
neighbourhood of Lerwick, some more reliable evidence is re- 
quired than that of my informant, who, in stating that he had 
observed it there, also remarked that he had often found its 
nest in Orkney. Messrs Baikie and Heddle, however, whose 
work was published in 1848, say, ‘‘This bird occasionally visits 
Orkney in October. It was observed near Kirkwall during 
the winter of 1842, and again in the same season in 1844.” 
A bird so well known to me could scarcely have often 
escaped notice during my long residence in Shetland, yet I 
have met with it only upon one solitary occasion, October the 
5th, 1868. when I saw one among some willows and wild roses 
P)i it. Birds, vol. iii., p. 104. 
