216 The Natiiralist of Cumbrae. 



with me. At this time I did not wish to be troubled 

 with anything else than what I was specially going 

 for. However, they got some of the preservative 

 materials given to my wife in hope that something 

 would turn up in their way. When out with the 

 dredge we saw so many birds that we had not at 

 home, that I wished that I had brought my gun. 



" We had an introduction to a Mr. Gatherer, super- 

 visor of excise. On mentioning the matter to him, 

 he very kindly lent his gun. It was single-barrelled, 

 long, and rather of an old style, but an excellent gun, 

 and I never felt one with less rebound. 



" We were delighted with the little piebald guille- 

 mot. We had never seen it before alive. When fly- 

 ing between us and the high cliffs in the distance its 

 mode of flight and mottled colour put us in mind of 

 butterflies. We bagged only three of these little 

 guillemots, for we made it a point never to kill more 

 than what we wanted for our own cabinet, with the 

 exception of one or two for a friend. 



" Richardson's Skua, Lestris Richardsonii, was 

 another bird wanting in my son's list. They were 

 plentiful on Noss, and Mr. Gatherer got leave for 

 us to shoot over that island. As the skua was the 

 only bird that we were in search of, we could soon 

 have procured all that we wanted, but for a slight 

 mishap to our ammunition. Some of the small shot 

 had got in among the powder and forced some of the 

 lead into the touch-hole. The next charge would 

 not after several trials go off. We found what the 

 matter was, but had nothing with us that would force 

 the shot out. We had got one bird, but there was no 



