222 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[September 1, 1897. 



uttering the old bird's cry. Mr. Witchell seems to think 

 that this case is a proof of the cry being hereditary, but 

 it seems to me quite possible that the young bird in 

 the shell would be able to learn a simple cry even before 

 it was hatched, and if this be so the note would be 

 merely a case of imitation. 



We next turned our attention to the heather with which 

 the "Black Isle" is covered. Here and there we came across 

 the nest of a herring or a lesser black- backed gull, but 

 they were not so numerous as on the rocks. On walking 

 along a small promontory a wild duck (Aikis /)osr/(a,<!) suddenly 

 rose out of the heather right at our feet, and, flying some 

 twenty yards, plunged into the sea with a splash, and then 

 sat and watched us. We knelt down and parted the heather, 

 and there was a beautiful nest of down, interwoven with 

 bits of fern, moss, and heather. The nest contained 

 ten shining eggs, almost white, but with a tinge of green. 

 So completely was the nest covered that it was impossible 

 to see the eggs without" first parting the tall heather, and 

 it appeared mysterious how the bird could have risen 

 so easily and quietly. 



Nestof the Wild Duck . 



The only other nest of interest which we found on the 

 " Black Isle " was a common sandpiper's, containing four 

 eggs. This nest, too, was bidden in a clump of heather, 

 and took the form of a perfect cup and saucer of bright 

 green moss. 



Another day we paid a very early visit to two little 

 islands called the " Seal Islands " — so called because one 

 generally sees two or three seals lying out upon the rocks. 

 The larger of these islands is only a few acres in extent, 

 yet it aii'ords very varied scenery, and is in fact a perfect 

 miniature of the mainland. On one side it has a perpen- 

 dicular granite cliff of about one hundred feet in height ; 

 on the other it slopes down gradually to the sea. It is 

 abundantly clothed with short undergrowth, and through 

 the middle there runs a tiny glen, flanked on either side 

 with steep clifts, and containing four or five fir trees. 



In exploring this island we came across a great number 

 of shells of merganser ducks' eggs which had evidently 

 been stolen and sucked clean. Suspecting a hooded crow, 

 we searched about the cliffs, and soon " put up " and shot 

 the old bird. We found her nest half-way down the chtf, 

 and over it, on the top, was a rock pipit, still warm but 

 half eaten. Verily, we had caught this hoodie redhanded 

 and she deserved her death. 

 We now began to search the island for merganser 



ducks' nests. I had my arm down a hole between two 

 rocks and fancied I felt something soft, when suddenly my 

 companion shouted out " What's that ? " Turning round, 

 I saw a bird scuttUng off amongst the heather about 

 twenty yards away. I ran after it to see what it was, 

 when it got up and flew quickly down to the sea. It was 

 evidently a shielduck, and we began to search about for its 

 nest where we had first seen the bird, but could find 

 nothing. I went back to my original find, and discovered 

 that there was another opening to the hole on the other side 

 of a big rock. We therefore came to the conclusion that this 

 hole contained the shielduck's nest, and that she had slipped 

 off when I put in my arm, and had very craftily left 

 by the opposite opening out of my sight, and had then 

 ci-ept away. We started to unearth the nest, which 

 we succeeded in doing after half an hour's hard work, and 

 foimd to our delight a shielduck's nest with sixteen eggs. 

 The nest was the most beautiful duck's nest I have ever 

 seen. It was entirely composed of greyish white down, 

 with here and there a relieving point of colour in the 

 shape of a brilliant black or chestnut feather. 



On the precipitous side of the island some half-dozen 

 pairs of black guillemots were breeding, and we were 

 anxious to obtain their eggs, not because of their rarity, 

 but because— in his " Fauna of Argyllshire" — Mr. Harvie- 

 Brown seems rather doubtful whether these birds breed 

 inside the Isle of Mull. 



We tried to scale the chff from the bottom, but found it 

 exceedingly diflBcult work, since it was nearly sheer, and 

 the only hold was in the shape of very small points of rock. 

 After several failures I managed to scramble up to a ledge 

 from which the nesting holes seemed accessible, but, 

 arrived there, I found an overhanging rock beyond which 

 it was impossible to climb. But, worse than this, I soon 

 woke up to the fact that I was fairly " treed." It was 

 difficult to scramble up, but to get down without a fall was 

 impossible. I was therefore forced to squat on my little 

 ledge, with the sea, a perpendicular drop of seventy feet, 

 below me, while my companions went off to the boat to 

 fetch a rope. They were away for about twenty minutes, 

 and as I sat perfectly still on the ledge I had an admirable 

 view of the black guillemots. Five or six were swimming 

 in nearer and nearer to the cliff ; when quite close in, they 

 suddenly one after another rose from the water at a sharp 

 angle, and passed with whirring wings within a foot of my 

 face to their nesting holes just above. I shaU never forget 

 the sight — -the swift and powerful flight, and the brilliant 

 pink legs and feet pressed close to coal-black breasts ! 



The rope arrived, I was let down into the small boat 

 below, and then going romid was lowered over the cliff' 

 again, and found two eggs placed on a ledge inside a tiny 

 cavern. There were other eggs, but I could not reach 

 them. 



One day we started from our anchorage, in the lee 

 of a small island, for Tobermory, in the Sound of 

 Mull. On approaching a small flat island in the sound 

 we saw two shielducks circling over it, and flying gradu- 

 ally lower they parted company, one darting to the 

 ground and disappearing, while the other flew on. This 

 manoeuvre is often practised by shielducks when visiting 

 their nest. The male escorts the female until near the 

 nest, when he suddenly leaves her and flies on. The 

 habit no doubt often conceals the whereabouts of the nest, 

 for one is apt to watch the flying bird and lose sight of 

 the other. On this occasion, however, we marked the 

 spot where the bird had gone down, and, landing, walked 

 up to the place, and almost immediately found a burrow, 

 in which was the bird sitting on a full nest of eggs. This 

 burrow ran right through a bank, and thus had two 



