1 96 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



they feed along the ditches where no water is to be seen. This is 

 curious, as one always associates Swans with a sheet of water. These 

 birds are smarter than the Whooper, and rise easily from either land 

 or water. I think their principal food is a small fresh-water mollusc, 

 but they also feed on a kind of short grass, which grows in 

 the bottom of the lochs and pools. 



Mute Swan (Cygnus olor). Mute Swans are summer visitors 

 mostly, but some years one or two remain throughout the winter. 

 The winter feed here does not seem congenial to their taste. 

 Considerable and increasing numbers have been coming to Loch 

 Vasapol every summer for the last few years. The great draw for 

 them seems to be a weed that grows in great profusion there, and 

 of which they seem to be very fond. The weed grows on a 

 mud bottom and reaches the surface and produces a small flower. 

 I have ascertained that the scientific name of this weed is 

 Potamogeton pectinatus. I counted seventy-five Mute Swans all 

 in a crowd last summer (191 1), feeding on this weed. The weed 

 disappears from the surface of the water about the latter end of 

 August, and the Mute Swans gradually leave the island. A pair 

 of this species made a nest and laid two eggs, on a small islet on 

 the Faodhal three summers ago, but this was destroyed by some 

 boys. 



Common Sheld-Duck (Tadorna cornuta). This species is 

 common, but not abundant. They remain throughout the year, 

 and breed sparingly round the sea-coast. They breed sometimes 

 in holes which they burrow in the sandbanks, generally a forsaken 

 rat's hole which they enlarge to suit themselves. They also nest 

 under large boulders, and in holes in the rocks round the coast. I 

 have seen the eggs hatched out under Hens here, but the young 

 birds always returned to the sea when they got strong enough. 



Mallard (Anas boscas). This Duck is abundant, and is the 

 best Duck we have both for the table and for sport. They remain 

 throughout the year, and nest all over the island wherever they fancy 

 a suitable site for their nest. Sometimes they choose very curious 

 places. I remember finding a nest of young birds, newly hatched, 

 out on a small shelf, on the face of a cliff. The young birds tumbled 

 down about six feet, and all got safely away. The cliff was sheer, 

 and there was no other possible way. They begin to nest as early 

 as the latter end of March, and at that time there is very little 

 cover on the island; consequently they have great difficulty in 

 finding suitable sites for their nests. They are cute birds. I once 

 found a nest that had been flooded after heavy rain, but the Duck 



