BIRD LIFE AT THE SHETLAND ISLANDS. 12$ 



to watch the birds to their nests in order to get authentic 

 specimens. The nests are large and formed of dry grass, 

 mixed with heather, and sometimes sea-weed. The three eggs 

 vary in colour from pale bluish-green to olive-brown, spotted 

 with dark and light brown and grey. 



The Eider Duck called in the Shetlands, the Dunter is a 

 thorough bird of the sea, only coming to land for the purpose 

 of rearing its young. It loves to frequent precipitous islands 

 and small uninhabited sea-girt rocks, breeding on them and 

 obtaining its food in the surrounding sea. Their nests are 

 large and consist of dry grass, bits of sea-weed sometimes 

 with heather twigs intermixed warmly lined with down from 

 the parent's breast, which is gradually accumulated during the 

 time the eggs are being laid. The usual number of eggs is 

 from five to seven, and they are pale olive green. 



The work of nest building and incubation is left entirely to 

 the female, and as is usual with the Duck tribe, the more 

 gaudily attired male keeps away from the nest, although in 

 the case of the Eider, he joins his mate when she leaves the 

 nest for food, and at such times the pair may be seen swim- 

 ming round the rocks side by side. Betore leaving the nest, 

 the eggs are carefully covered up. The down forms a valuable 

 article of commerce, each Duck yielding about four ounces, 

 which, when cleaned, is worth about i per Ib. 



Another characteristic bird of these Islands is the Great 

 Black Backed Gull. This beautiful member of the Gull family 

 is only equalled in size by the Glaucous Gull and it may be 

 seen at all seasons and in all weathers, soaring, Eagle-like, far 

 overhead. They are very careful to select as nesting sites 

 those Islands which are very difficult of access, either from the 

 precipitous character of their rocky sides or from their being 

 surrounded by the waters of some inland lake, where no 

 craft ever penetrates. They breed in great numbers on the 

 Holm of Noss, an isolated rock some thirty feet from the main 

 Island. 



The nest is built of dry grass carelessly heaped up and the 

 usual number of eggs is three. They are often similar to those 

 of the Lesser Black Backed Gull and the Herring Gull, but are 

 generally marked with larger blotches and are considerably 



