favours open marshy meadows, flying close to the ground. The wood nymph frequents lonely lanes, bramble patches and the open woods. Its blue- centered eye spots are set in a yellowish band on the front wing. The little wood satyr is smaller, brownish grey, with the prominent eye spots set in the ground colour of its wings.

Hesperiidae, or skippers, differ from butterflies in a number of ways too subtle to concern the casual observer. For the most part they are small and stout bodied, tending to tawny in colour; their antennae are widely separated at the base, and hooked at the tips. The front and hind wings are held at different angles at rest. They take their name from the swift erratic pattern of their flight. The most common one here is probably the European skipper, an introduced pest of forage crops. In common with their relatives, males have an oblique dark band or “slash” across the wings; this is composed of dark scales which emit scent.

This concludes our short catalogue of common Island butterflies. Look for these, and others, during your outdoor extrusions.

UNUSUAL BIRD SEEN AT MONTICELLO: by Gerald MacDonald

On October 29, 1995, while birdwatching on the north shore just back of my home in Monticello, I observed an Eastern Meadowlark. I viewed the bird from various angles over a period of roughly one hour.

When the bird first came in for a landing I knew this bird was different - it hovered Bobolink-like prior to landing on grain stubble. When it landed, I could distinctly hear its buzzy call note. I first observed it for twenty minutes without disturbing the bird — I finally mover closer eventually flushing the bird. When the bird rose on rapidly beating wings, I observed the beautiful tail pattern. The bird circled high in the air returning repeatedly to the same area although this time it landed on a four foot high shrub along a hedgerow affording me a great view from every angle.

The bright yellow breast had two upper dark patches, both right and left, and one central dark patch on the breast. The darkness did not appear to meet in a V shape.

I flushed the bird roughly three times and got an excellent view of its habits both in flight and on the ground. I should add that when the bird would fly, it reminded me of the Northern Flicker or a Sharp-tailed Grouse --rapid wing beats alternating with sailing flight.

I phoned Dan McAskill plus Ray Cooke and, after discussing the characteristics of the bird in books along with listening to Dan's tape on the Eastern Meadowlark call, it all came together as evidence of a great sighting.

Editor's note: Please refer to Island Naturalist No. 126 (Jan.-Feb., 1993) for a description of the identification characteristics of the Western Meadowlark which is also possible at this time of year.