148 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



young rabbits, skinning them beautifully before eating them, 

 pulling the skin from the snout towards the tail. 



The Golden Eagle. Seen here at all seasons, although 

 I have never found its nest, it depends on the rabbits for 

 food as the high hill tops, especially Carrodale, Hecla and 

 Ben More, are green with cairns that are full of rabbits. 

 There are no hares on the island, but the rabbits make a 

 good substitute for what is, in my experience, their principal 

 food on the mainland. 



The White-tailed Eagle. This handsome bird was 

 well known in the Hebrides, but I am sorry to say is now 

 very rare, and to all appearance will soon be extinct. John 

 Lamont, who was keeper in South Uist for fifty years, told 

 me, when he first remembers the island, the eagle nested 

 there freely. 



Sparrow-Hawk. I have only once seen this bird on 

 South Uist. 



The Iceland Falcon. The only Iceland Falcon I 

 have seen in the Outer Hebrides was sent to me by a man 

 from Benbecula, but was too far gone to be preserved. 



The Peregrine Falcon. The Peregrine breeds freely 

 on the wild and often inaccessible cliffs overhanging the 

 Minch. This bird takes a terrible toll of Curlew, Plover, 

 Mallard, Wigeon, Grouse and Woodcock, and will even 

 attack the large and powerful Greylag Goose. It is very 

 destructive, killing for killing's sake, especially in autumn 

 and winter. I often thought that it was the old birds 

 teaching the young, as so many were beheaded and other- 

 wise left untouched. The Peregrine is not so destructive 

 to Grouse here as on the mainland, as there are so many 

 other birds to fall back on. 



The Merlin. Like the Peregrine this bird is resident 

 here, breeding freely; it is also to be seen in the winter, 

 when it is destructive to Snipe and Woodcock. Once I 

 saw a Merlin knock down a cock Grouse. It nests in long 

 heather, very often on the top of a small rock or boulder, 

 the male is always on the watch, giving a shrill whistling 

 cry to warn the female, and both are very bold in defence 

 of their eggs or young. 



