BIRDS OF SHETlvAND 



The aspect of the Shetlands has been described, 

 as bare and monotonous, but one is never far 

 from a sight of the sea, and the coast-line, with its 

 islands and splintered rocks rising from the white- 

 lashed waves, is infinitely beautiful and varied. 

 Foula, indeed, is said to possess the finest rock 

 scenery in Europe. Ikying 20 miles from the 

 mainland, and bearing the full brunt of the At- 

 lantic, the mighty cliff known as Kame Head 

 rises 1,217 ^^^'^ sheer from the sea. 



Here, then, in this land of moor and loch, of 

 sea-cliff and sheltered harbour, the hardier and 

 wilder species of birds find a fitting home, the 

 absence of pasture, wide hedge-rows, and spread- 

 ing woodlands accounting for the lack of most 

 of the gentler races — the warblers and others — 

 in the nesting season. 



Perhaps the most t3rpical bird of the Shetland 

 moorland is the golden plover. As it stands on a 

 heathery summit in full breeding plumage, with 

 its black and white breast, and with back and 

 wings dappled in varying shades of old gold, 

 and grey and black, it is seen well to deserve its 

 name. Its nest is usually placed amidst the 

 rocks and ling on the higher slopes. If it be 

 approached the bird runs silently away for a 

 considerable distance, where from some slight 

 eminence it surveys the intruder, uttering the 

 while its plaintive, piping cry. In the autumn 

 the birds gather together, and may be seen feeding 

 in numbers on the peaty islands, covered with 

 green moss and intersected by oozy channels. 

 It is one of the characteristic sights of Shetland 

 to mark a vast flock suddenly sweeping over some 

 rocky ridge, in the failing evening light, when 

 the air is filled with their sweet call-notes which 

 almost instantly become fainter and die away in 

 the distance. The green plover, a bird so common 



167 



