HAD the two myrtle warblers that this month put in an appearance on Shetland made the long journey from the United States or Canada under their own steam - or might they have received a little help en route?
The question is prompted by two letters that were published in British Birds, back in the 1950s.
In the first, Katharine Tousey wrote: "Miss Wynne Waite of Bognor Regis Training College told me that, in September 1954, while crossing the Atlantic from Canada on the Empress of France, she saw on the ship a bird which she recognised as an American warbler.
"She first noticed it on the 10th of that month approximately 400 miles east of the Straits of Belle Isle.
"She saw it on board during most of the rest of the voyage, but not after the ship sighted the Irish coast on 13th September.
"She described it to me as being greyish-brown in colour, with light under-parts streaked with dark markings and with yellow patches on the sides of the breast.
"In flight, it showed a conspicuous yellow rump and some white towards the edges of the tail-feathers.
"At the time she gave me this description, Miss Waite had not heard that a myrtle warbler had been observed in Devon.
"In January 1956, Miss Waite came with me to the Natural History Museum where I showed her specimens in various plumages of the eastern North American wood warblers (Parulidae) with yellow or yellowish rumps.
"Miss Waite chose an adult male myrtle warbler in autumn plumage as similar to the bird she had seen.
"She had noted all the field marks with the exception of the yellow on the crown."
The other letter was submitted by John M. R. Margeson who wrote: "On 24th May 1955, my wife and I set sail from Montreal on the Saxonia and landed in Liverpool a week later.
"Soon after we left, when we were still in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, we noticed a bird on the upper deck which I identified as a myrtle warbler.
"It remained on board, and we last saw it on 30th May as we were passing the coast of North Ireland and approaching Scotland (land in sight).
"We watched it each day because we realised that it was unusual for a small bird to remain with a ship, and we wished to see how long it would stay.
"It seemed to adjust itself to the confined limits of the ship and to accept human beings fairly readily.
"Often we were within six feet of it as it hopped about the afterdeck.
"If anyone approached too close, however, it would fly to a lifeboat or to one of the masts.
Mr Margeson continued: "The crossing was not a rough one - there were no gales and little heavy rain - but the bird was always near the stern.
"Several people scattered crumbs for it, but, though it was often hopping about among them, we did not see it take any.
"It appeared to be searching crannies and corners, behind benches and tackle on the deck, though I could not say whether there was any insect food there and it may just have been seeking shelter.
"Whatever the way it managed to survive, it certainly appeared very lively and strong on the wing.
"The bird was dull blue above and almost white beneath, striped with broken black marks and with pale yellow at the sides ; the throat was white, and there was a yellow patch on the head and another on the rump."
The letters were published after the first record of the species in Britain (and Europe) was reported in a garden near Exeter in Devon in January 1955.
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