98 About the Feathered Folk. 



geese." "Solan geese," they are 

 also called ; but they are not geese 

 at all, being rather allied to the 

 Pelicans, or to that very dissimilar 

 bird the Cormorant. 



Beyond the scarp of the North 

 Cliff in Canna there is a gorge, 

 which sinks away into pasture- 

 ground, where a brook or, as we 

 say in Scotland, a " burn " comes 

 trickling through the grasses to the 

 shore. Here a pair or two of Teal 

 have established themselves. 



These graceful little birds, with 

 their vivid green wing-feathers, are 

 perhaps the prettiest of all our 

 British ducks. They have not the 

 handsome patches of the Sheldrake, 

 nor the glorious neck of the Red- 

 throated diver, but their delicate 

 plumage and finely-shaped bodies 

 distinguish them from all the rest. 



Once I, by accident, disturbed 

 one of their nests. It was in a tuft 

 of dry grass, well beyond all danger 



