2i 4 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



June. On 4th July I met with six birds on the eastern coast 

 of Belting, and I frequently met with them about the same 

 neighbourhood during my stay in that quarter. 



MALLARD, Anasboscas. The Stock Duck, as it is termed in Shetland, 

 is by no means abundant as a breeding species, though fairly 

 distributed. 



TEAL, Querquedula crecca. I found the Teal in Unst only, where I 

 met with a drake and two ducks at Uyeasound on i5th July. 



WIGEON, Mareca penelope. I watched a pair on a loch in Sandsting 

 on i 5th June. They were evidently breeding there, but I could 

 not find their nest. 



SCAUP, Fuligula marila, On the evening of i2th June my friend 

 Mr. James Baxter of Edinburgh and I, when returning to our 

 quarters in Walls, detected a pair of Scaup near the edge of a 

 large loch in that parish. From that day till the i8th, which 

 was our last in Walls, we spent many hours watching the birds 

 with the view to discovering their nest. But our hopes were 

 doomed to disappointment, for, although the birds were tame 

 and fairly confiding, they gave little indication of breeding, 

 beyond what their presence in itself implied. On i3th June I 

 saw the pair of birds "nebbing," and on the i8th they had 

 shifted their quarters from the shore to the edge of the island 

 which lay on the loch. They were peculiarly silent, never uttering 

 any cry so far as we could hear. I may mention that a raid 

 had been made on the island shortly before our visit, and that 

 amongst the spoil procured was a Merganser's nest with eight 

 eggs, and another, supposed to be a Merganser's at the time, 

 with four eggs. I have the down from the former nest, but I 

 learned that no down had been taken from the second nest, 

 and I was thus left without any accurate clue to the identifica- 

 tion of the owners. 



GOLDEN-EYE, Clangula glaudon. I observed a drake Golden-eye on 

 Mioness Loch in Belting on 8th July. The bird presented 

 the same shy nature with which I am familiar in the winter 

 months, and would, on rising, have flown straight away, had not 

 a Richardson's Skua swooped down upon it and compelled it to 

 settle on the loch and dive. It then swam off to the opposite 

 shore, maintaining the same wild disposition, and soon dis- 

 appeared. 



LONG-TAILED BUCK, Harelda gladalis. I met with this species on 

 one occasion only, in Firths Voe, on 22nd July. The bird, 

 a female, when first seen, was close inshore, but, on seeing 

 attention directed to it, swam outwards, and evaded pursuit 

 by repeatedly diving. 



