of the Outer Hebrides. 23 



I have been several times shown eggs said to be those of the 

 Goosander ; but they never had that creamy whiteness which its 

 eggs from Scandinavia always have ; and I never saw a speci- 

 men of the bird killed in the Hebrides, though no doubt they 

 occur sometimes in winter. 



There are several rocks and islets on the north and west 

 coast of Scotland which are interesting to the naturalist on 

 account of the myriads of sea-fowl by which they are fre- 

 quented ; and as they are almost unknown, except to the fisher- 

 men of the neighbouring coasts, it will be as well to mention 

 them. 



First are two rocks lying about forty miles west of Strom- 

 ness in Orkney, which are marked in the maps as Stack Island 

 and Sule Island, but called by the Orkney men the Stack and 

 Skerry. The Stack is a high rock four miles south-west of the 

 Skerry, and is the breeding-place of a large colony of Gannets 

 [Sula bassand). It is sometimes confounded with another Sule- 

 skerry, sixty miles west of it, which I shall presently describe. 

 The Stack and Skerry are very seldom visited, owing to their 

 distance and the difficulty of landing. Besides the Gannets, 

 there are great numbers of the common rock-birds ; and on the 

 Skerry, seals are very numerous in calm weather. 



Rona is an island about three-quarters of a mile long, lying 

 sixty miles north-north-east of the Butt of Lewis, and is now 

 uninhabited, though it was tenanted in former days by five or 

 six families, whose existence must have been far more wretched 

 and lonely than that of the St. Kildians. It is surrounded by 

 cliffs about three hundi-ed feet high, and is pastured by two 

 hundred sheep belonging to a farm in Lewis. I was unable to 

 visit this isle, as no boatmen could be persuaded to risk the 

 danger of the voyage except for a larger sum than I was dis- 

 posed to give. I do not think any birds would be found there 

 except the common sorts, as I inquired particularly about them 

 from the inhabitants of Ness, who go there every year to fleece 

 the sheep. 



Ten miles west of Bona is Suleskeir, which is erroneously 

 named in most maps North Barra ; and on this rock it has been 

 conjectured that the Great Auk might formerly have bred. I 



