83 



other shooter was to put them up by firing at them. They flew 

 as expected, and on Mr. L. firing at them they turned and came 

 directly over my head ; I shot at them, and after they had passed 

 me, one of them gradually became all over blood on the wing, and 

 we saw it was severely wounded. It was snowing hard and we 

 soon lost sight of them, but followed in the direction they had 

 taken, and after going some way on the ice we came to drops of 

 blood, which became thicker as we went on, and at last we found 

 where the tips of the wing had marked the snow. We then found 

 where he had settled by the footmarks, and tracked him for at 

 least a mile on the ice till he had gone to the edge ; we then lost 

 his track in the snow in the rough grass and heather, and after 

 looking for a length of time we gave him up, thinking some one 

 must have seen him fall and had got him. Afterwards on being 

 joined by Mr. L. we had another look, and at length found the 

 bird nearly dead, but he had walked a long way from the edge of 

 the ice, and was not easy to see in the snow. This bird is now 

 in my collection. I once also saw a Wild Swan shot with a ball 

 from a flock of nearly a hundred ; they were frequently there, 

 but not every year by any means. I saw large flocks on Feb- 

 ruary 10th, 1836, and January 14th, 1847. and I saw some as 

 late as April in 1855. 



GEESE. Pink-footed, the commonest, usually most numerous 

 during spring migration, till nearly May-day. Bean, sometimes 

 shot from the same flock as the former species : Grey Lag gene- 

 rally appeared singly, and sometimes associated with its domes- 

 tie relatives. I have one killed 28th April, 1855, a young bird 

 of the preceding year. Brent Geese, which so rarely leave the 

 sea ; I only know one instance of a large flock which came during 

 a flood and settled on an island. Mr. Eeay killed four at a shot, 

 and the rest went straight away. 1 believe the White-fronted 

 Goose was also occasionally there, but it never came under my 

 notice. 



Previous to the drainage of the Car Wild Geese were frequently 

 seen flying about during the winter and spring, even at a dis- 

 tance from it ; now they seem to have deserted the locality, and 



