BIRD LIFE AT THE SHETLAND ISLANDS. 12? 



larger. The eggs of this variety are very rich and excellent 

 to eat. This Gull causes a deal of trouble and extra watching 

 during lambing season as they will instantly kill a lamb and 

 make off with it to their nesting sites. 



Colonies of Richardson's Skuas are found in Unst, Foula, 

 Yell, and Feltar. They frequent those districts which are low 

 and marshy, laying their eggs upon some slight eminence of 

 dry ground. They are the merciless persecutors of the other 

 species of sea birds in the neighbourhood, sucking their eggs, 

 and giving the parents no end of trouble when they are bring- 

 ing home their food. They attack them until they are forced 

 to give up what they are carrying to their families and have 

 perforce to go in search of more. The nest is merely a de- 

 pression in the heath or moss, upon which the eggs are laid, 

 and these are always two. The colour is olive or reddish- 

 brown, spotted with dark brown and grey. 



Now we come to the Island of Foula on the West side of 

 the Shetland mainland, from the nearest point of which it is 

 about 1 8 miles distant. The natives of the Island are very 

 primitive, the majority being crofters, living in small thatched 

 huts over which cords are passed with heavy stones suspended 

 on either side to prevent the roofs from being blown away 

 during the fierce gales, which are so prevalent in the Island. 

 They have no fire-places, a pile of peat being burned in the 

 centre of the floor, and the smoke wanders about the room 

 until it finds its way out through a hole in the roof, which 

 serves the double purpose of a chimney and window. Cows 

 and poultry often share the same dwelling! 



Shetland alone amongst the British Islands is the resort of 

 the Great Skua during the breeding season, having now only 

 two stations in the whole group, namely, Foula and Hermaness 

 in Unst, where they are strictly protected by the proprietors. 

 The bird was formerly plentiful on the low ground near Rona's 

 Hill, in North Mavin, as well as Saxaford, in Unst, but they 

 have deserted owing to the want of protection. The number 

 of eggs laid is two, and these are a dark, buffi sh-brown, spot- 

 ted with dark brown. The nest consists of a neatly rounded 

 cavity in the moss and heather, measuring about a foot in 

 diameter, and is lined with small pieces of heather, moss and 



