BIRDS FREQUENTING IT. 335 



I used in the spring constantly to see numbers of those 

 birds. As visitors may be enumerated the Gannet 

 (rare) ; the Foolish or Common Guillemot ; the Razor- 

 bill (scarce) ; the Puffin (scarce) ; the Rotche or Little 

 Auk (rare) ; the Smew (rare) ; the Red-necked Grebe ; 

 the Great Northern Diver (rare) ; the King Duck (rare) ; 

 the Hooper or wild Swan ; the Grey-lag Goose ; the Bean 

 Goose ; the White-fronted Goose ; the Brent Goose ; the 

 Shoveller (rare) ; the Pintail ; the Scaup Duck ; the 

 Velvet Scoter ; the Common Scoter ; the Golden Eye ; 

 the Long-tailed Hareld ; the Goosander ;* and probably 

 some others that have been omitted. 



Several species of Waders also nested in our " Skar- 

 gard ; " as, for instance, the Oyster-catcher ; the Turn- 

 stone ; the Ringed Dottrel ; the Little Ringed Dottrel ; 

 the Redshank ; the Golden Plover ; the Common Plover ; 

 and the Curlew. Whilst the Whimbrel, the Godwits, the 



: A curious instance of the tenacity of life in this bird recently 

 occurred at Falkenberg, celebrated for its salmon fishery. Whilst a young 

 friend of mine was one fine afternoon taking a stroll with his gun on the 

 banks of the river, he, at a bend of it, suddenly caught sight of a Goosander 

 sailing about in all the freedom and majesty of unobserved solitude. 

 Sheltered by trees and bushes, and gloating over his expectant prize, the 

 eager sportsman crept stealthily to within gun-shot of the bird, when, not 

 liking to shoot it cockney-fashion whilst sitting, he shouted loudly to 

 disturb it. To his surprise, however, it did not take wing, and he there- 

 fore poured a volley into it, knocking out a quantity of feathers. But 

 though so sorely wounded, and half lifted out of the water by the discharge, 

 it still maintained its erect position, and a moment afterwards was swim- 

 ming about as quietly and unconcernedly as before. Another barrel was 

 discharged at the poor bird, and this time it was fairly knocked on its side 

 amidst a second cloud of feathers. At this moment my young friend's 

 eai-s were saluted with a ringing laugh from the other side of the river, 

 and shortly after became aware that a cruel trap had been laid for him by 

 a wicked carpenter, who had killed the bird the previous winter, and had 

 stuffed it for a decoy. My friend has never since liked to be reminded of 

 the wonderful tenacity of life in the Goosander. 



