SIDE LIGHTS ON BIRDS 



in a single visit. Fortunately this kind of 

 " sport" is now keenly resented by both pro- 

 prietors and natives alike, and gunners of the 

 " 'Arry " type, even when landing from palatial 

 yachts, are no longer permitted to have a free 

 hand. 



Two other characteristic Shetland birds may 

 be here referred to, the oyster-catcher, and the 

 ringed plover. There are few prettier sights in 

 bird-life than that presented by a large party of 

 oyster-catchers as they rest upon and flutter 

 around a stack of black, splintered rocks, with 

 their magpie-like plumage and long sealing-wax 

 bills, glancing in the sunshine, the blue sea for a 

 background. 



The ringed plover, too — the " sandy-loo" of 

 Shetland — is beautifully in keeping with its sur- 

 roundings. On the narrow margin of shingle 

 and sand, which slopes to the sea, this little bird 

 may be seen running swiftly, and when alarmed, 

 rising with a soft, piping cry, alighting again at 

 no great distance. Against the smooth surface 

 of the sand the jet-black collar and white breast 

 are at once conspicuous. But let the little sandy- 

 loo but run upon a belt of shingle, and at once 

 the eye searches for it in vain. The pebbles, 

 smoothed and rounded by the sea, are of varied 

 colours — brown, black, and pure white — and 

 these match the hues of its plumage so com- 

 pletely that the small area upon which the bird 

 rests must be examined with the utmost care 

 before a living thing can be detected. Upon the 

 shingle in a slight depression without nest of any 

 kind, the four eggs, a pale buff streaked with 

 black, are laid ; and these again harmonise so truly 

 with their surroundings that even when found, 

 if the attention be averted for an instant, they 



seem to sink into invisibility. 



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176 



