NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS OF NORTH UIST 129 



island, and their eggs. The Fulmar Petrel and its eggs form 

 the chief articles of consumption amongst them. They never 

 dare to cross the forty miles in their fishing-boats ; it was 

 once done and considered a miracle. They never receive a 

 post, and consequently have no idea of what is happening in 

 the outer world. The Queen might die, England might be 

 at war with, or defeated by, any foreign power, what matters 

 it to them ? They have their acre of potatoes, they have the 

 Eider-duck soup, so highly spoken of in these latitudes, they 

 have their fishing, and are content. 



The Haskeir rocks were also visible, where breed the 

 Tysties of Shetland, and I was informed, and I consider it 

 probable, that the Great Northern Diver breeds either on 

 these rocks or at St Kilda. It is only absent from the seas 

 for six weeks during the summer, when it returns with its 

 young hatched where ? Surely it cannot go so far away to 

 breed when it manages to 'lay, hatch, and rear its young in 

 six weeks, as 1 was informed it did. It must also be 

 remembered that young Divers remain some time in the 

 nest after hatching, before taking to the water. 



To the south, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barrahead were 

 quite distinct ; to the east lay Scotland, blue and hazy in the 

 misty atmosphere of the Minch ; Skye, Dunvegan Head, and 

 the hills of Ross-shire were distinctly visible in short, a finer 

 view of Highland scenery could not be conceived. 



The next morning (19th May) I hired a boat and we 

 rowed down Loch Eport, seeing Eider, Hoodie Crows, and 

 Black Guillemots on the way. Having got down Loch Eport 

 to the sea we landed and ascended Ben Lee, and soon found 

 a Hoodie Crow's nest and three young, on a crag above the 

 sea. On the top of Ben Lee I recognised the lovely song of 

 a bird with which I was very familiar, and soon discovered 

 him the Wood-warbler {Sylvia sibilatrix). This was indeed 

 a strange place for such a bird, and 1 believe this will be its 

 first occurrence so far north in the British Islands. It was 

 evidently breeding in the heather, as, with quivering wings, 

 it hovered about uttering its twittering song and long, shrill, 

 melodious whistle. I was starting to look for its nest when 

 I heard the cry of the Merlin, and this drew my attention 

 78 R 



