BIRDS' NESTING SEASON 155 



wool, and were usually to be seen busily collecting it 

 for a nest hidden in some snug corner under a rock 

 not far off. 



The value of Shetland wool in eyes other than those 

 of breeding birds varies with the colour, the shade 

 most highly prized being a cinnamon brown, known 

 as Murad, not unlike the colour of the back of a ruddy 

 Sheldrake for which as much as half-a-crown a pound 

 is often given before it is spun. 



We felt a little as Moses must have felt on Pisgah, 

 when, on reaching the top of the last hill before drop- 

 ping down to Sumburgh, we saw across the Roost the 

 outlines of Fair Island, looking, in the clear shining 

 after the rain, not half its real distance, and tantalisingly 

 near. 



Calm though the water had looked from the top of 

 the hill, it was too rough to allow us, as we had hoped, 

 to explore ' the Head ' from the sea, or to attempt 

 anything with a small boat in the open. 



But between Sumburgh and the towering preci- 

 pice of Fitful Head, at the entrance of Queendale Bay, 

 there are two islands well worth a visit. By the kind- 

 ness of the owner, Mr. Bruce of Sumburgh, a boat had 

 been sent for us overland on a cart to a sheltered 

 corner, and after a row of half an hour, during which 

 we were objects of great interest to a party of seals, 

 who popped up their heads and lifted themselves 

 breast high to stare at us, we managed to reach them 

 with clothes comparatively dry. 



We had expected to find on the Lady Holm a fine 



