THE BIRDS OF A NORTHERN LOCH 61 



earth, some of those weird, wild, and 

 altogether lonely haunts would be ideal 

 hunting-grounds for them ! 



But as we pass through the arms of 

 water we begin to realize what a large 

 loch this is. After leaving one large open 

 space of water, and going through a 

 narrow channel, we come to yet another, 

 and here are many more islands, and 

 from some of these flocks of Gulls rise. 

 The Common Gull nests here, but, unlike 

 its name, it is anything but a common 

 nesting species. Lesser Black-backed 

 Gulls, and that fine bird the Greater 

 Black-backed Gull, also build their nests 

 on these islands. There are over three 

 hundred and fifty islands on the loch, and 

 yet it is hardly possible to see more than 

 a dozen from any one spot, and this gives 

 one a good idea of how the water twists 

 and turns about. The whole of the island 

 on which we find this loch is one mass 

 of similar lochs, but not so large, and 



