NOTES ON BIRDS SEEN IN THE OUTER HEBRIDES 83 



TUFTED DUCK, Fiiligula cristata (Leach). The Tufted Duck breeds 

 in the same islands as the Shoveller, and we found it to be 

 rather more numerous than that species. 



GOLDEN-EYE, Clangula glaudon (Linnaeus). I saw a single female 

 Golden-eye in Loch Maddy in June. 



LONG-TAILED DUCK, Harelda glacialis (Linnaeus). We saw a very 

 interesting freshly killed specimen shot at North Bay, Barrn, 

 on xyth May. It was rather backward, for it had only just 

 begun to change from winter to summer plumage. 



EIDER DUCK, Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus). Very few Eiders, 

 if any, nest on the fresh-water lochs in South Uist or Benbecula, 

 but in North Uist a fair number do so. I saw a female Eider 

 of a pale fawn colour in Loch Maddy. 



GOOSANDER, Mergus merganser, Linnaeus. I saw a male in the 

 Sound of Fuday off Barra on 22nd May. This species is of 

 rare occurrence in the Outer Hebrides. 



WOOD PIGEON, Columba palumbus, Linnaeus. On 8th June one 

 was shot at Grogarry, South Uist, by the head gamekeeper. 

 The Wood Pigeon has occurred only a few times in the Uists 

 and Barra. 



RED GROUSE, Lagopus sco/icits, Latham. The Grouse in the Outer 

 Hebrides sit very close. We did not see a single bird in Barra, 

 only their marks, but in the other islands we were more 

 fortunate. The Barra Grouse is very dark in colour, and so 

 also, I believe, are specimens from the Uists and Benbecula ; 

 but in The Lews they are the reverse, and I was much struck 

 by their light colour. Both Mr. D. Mackenzie and D. Graham, 

 the head keeper at Lewis Castle, consider the Grouse of The 

 Lews to be much lighter than the ordinary run of birds from 

 Sutherland and West Ross-shire, which parts of the mainland 

 they are well acquainted with. 



PTARMIGAN, Lagopus nintiis (Montin). On the evening of ist June, 

 near a large loch in the southern end of South Uist, a strange 

 bird got up some distance in front of us. Bahr at once said, 

 " That is a Ptarmigan." On following it up, the bird rose wild, 

 but watching it carefully with our glasses as it flew across the 

 loch, we made certain that it was a Ptarmigan. A few days 

 later we again saw the bird about the same place, and this 

 time were able to have a good look at it on the ground, and 

 make absolutely certain as to its identity. By the side of a 

 loch, practically at sea-level, is about the last place one would 

 expect to see a Ptarmigan, and I think the only explanation 

 is that it must have come from the Harris or the Skye hills, 

 which are the nearest on which Ptarmigan are found. During 



