Mr. MacGillivray on the Zoology of the Hebrides. / 



III. — Notes on the Zoology of the Outer Hebrides. By John 

 MacGillivray, Vice-President of the Cuvierian Nat. 

 Hist. Society of Edinburgh. 



The only account of the Natural History of the Outer He- 

 brides that has yet been published is that of Professor Mac- 

 Gilhvray*. and it being now upwards of twenty years since 

 that gentleman visited the district, I have been induced to 

 arrange a few notes relative to the species observed during a 

 residence there in the summer of 1840. Several additions to 

 his hst are here noticed, and a few eri'ors corrected — en'ors 

 which the state of British Zoology at the time he wrote ren- 

 dered altogether unavoidable. 



Before proceeding further, it maybe proper to mention that 

 I was landed in Skye in the end of April 1840, was conveyed 

 to North Uist, which I crossed, and established myself in 

 Berneray, a small island in the sound of Harris. From this 

 central point, excursions, sometimes of several days' duration, 

 were repeatedly made to all the neighbouring islands, to Har- 

 ris, the southern portion of which was traversed in all direc- 

 tions, and to North Uist. On the 29th of June I left for St. 

 Kildaf, and was absent eight days ; on my I'eturn I set off for 

 South Uist, traversing Benbecula, and remaining upwards of 

 a week. On my return I again visited Harris and the adja- 

 cent isles, spent some time in North Uist, and finally crossing 

 to Skye in the end of August, walked through the west high- 

 lands to Edinburgh, which I reached after an absence of four 

 months. 



Mammalia. 



The Otter, Lutra vulgaris, is sparingly distributed along 

 the whole of the rocky coasts of the Hebrides. It is found 

 chiefly among the loose blocks of stone by the shore, but oc- 

 casionally frequents the inland lakes, especially in South Uist. 

 The otters of the Hebrides belong exclusively to the dark 

 variety, considered by Mr. Ogilby as specifically distinct, 

 which, though said to be smaller than the other, is yet not al- 

 ways so ; for one shot in the island of Vallay measured five 

 feet, and another seen at Scolpig about nine inches less, being 

 still above the average size. Phoca vitidina, Common Seal, 

 is extremely abundant in the sound of Harris and the neigh- 

 bouring inlets of North Uist, but less so elsewhere. The 

 young are born about the beginning of June, and immediately 

 follow their mother. One only is usually produced at a birth, 



* Edinb. Journ. of Nat. and Geograph. Science, vol. ii. pp. 161 and .321. 

 t An account of whicli will appear in the October Number of the ' Edinb. 

 New Philos. Journal.' 



