SEA -DUCKS. 231 



seeing tliem at sea, I have not had much opportunity of 

 observing the habits of the Velvet Duck. 



Such are the regular •' Sea-ducks " ; but in the course of 

 a day's cruise, one often falls in with other kinds. Thus 

 one often sees the Sheld-Ducks spending the day at rest 

 on the waves — sometimes seventy or eighty strong — and is 

 almost sure to come across the local stock of Mallard and 

 Wigeon sitting along shore and close in to the line of 

 breakers. 



The pleasure of shooting under canvas is further enhanced 

 by the constant opportunities it affords of observing various 

 wild creatures other than the Anatkhe. During mid-winter 

 we have the Little Auks from Spitzbergen, and the pretty 

 coral-footed Sea-pigeon, or Tystie from Shetland. These 

 are replaced as spring approaches by the arrival (in March) 

 of the Pufl&ns. The two first named are more or less 

 oceanic in their resorts, but the Common Guillemot and 

 Razor-bill are ubiquitous and hardly take the trouble to get 

 out of the coble's way. Then there are the large Divers 

 (Colymbi) — I have shot all the three species — and four kinds 

 of Grebe may be met with : one of these, however (the Eared 

 Grebe) is decidedly rare. Lastly, there are the seals — weird, 

 uncouth amphibians. As they silently gaze on one from the 

 sea with their great mild eyes, they verily impress one rather 

 as the ghostly relics of some long-past Arctic epoch than as 

 contemporary denizens of British seas ! Seals still breed at 

 a few spots on the north-east coast, bringing out their young 

 in November on some remote little islet or " skeir " of rock, 

 just awash at full tide. On these islets half a dozen or more 

 of their ungainly forms may sometimes be seen basking in 

 the wintry sun, while, hard-by, stand the gaunt upright 

 figures of the Cormorants. 



The serious drawback to the pursuit of wildfowl at sea, 

 is the constant risk of being caught in a sudden gale, per- 

 haps when several miles from shelter. This contingency, 

 which is ever impending, not unfrequently bursts upon one 

 without notice, and a most unpleasant experience it is to 

 undergo. Seaworthy as the northern cobles are, they, and 



