THE FIRTH OF FORTH. 21 



It was a tempting and mortifying moment to 

 watch the little trio, within such fair distance at 

 first, quickly paddle out of reach long before I was 

 "shotted." 



Leaving the eider where he fell, we were soon 

 in full chase ; but the American strangers had, on 

 second thoughts, betaken themselves to their wings, 

 when I ran to warn the men to bring the boat, and 

 I have never fallen in with this rare mergus before 

 or since. When we returned to pick up the dead 

 drake, the fishermen, far from sympathising with 

 my chagrin at losing such a prize, were firmly con- 

 vinced that the eider ought to be ample consola- 

 tion, and was by far the most valuable " fule " of 

 the two. 



With the exception of the black guillemot, and 

 the great cormorant when dignified by his creden- 

 tials, my museum now contained all the native 

 sea-birds of the Firth of Forth. A pair or two of 

 these sable guillemots sometimes hatch on the 

 Island of May, whose dizzy crags also afford a 

 secure night-roost to the scart, while its boisterous 

 sea-coves are the favourite retreat of the green 

 cormorant or shag. The distance of " the May '' 



