CHAPTER III 



BIRD LIFE IN COLONSAY 



THE whole coast of Colonsay is indented with little 

 bays ; and all along the west and south are miles of 

 reefs and wicked-looking rocks of all shapes and sizes, 

 many of them large enough to be dignified with the 

 name of islands. Eider-ducks swarm there at all times 

 of the year ; they are indeed so much a characteristic 

 feature of the bird life of the island, that they are 

 locally known as " Colonsay ducks." They are far 

 more numerous than all the other species of duck put 

 together, and it was hardly possible to turn the glass 

 upon any bay or inlet without seeing specimens of 

 three kinds the drake, with his handsome plumage of 

 white shading into a delicate pink ; the immature males, 

 less handsome and attractive, presenting a general 

 effect of black and white ; and the sober-plumaged 

 ducks, resembling in colour but not in shape the 

 ordinary mate of the mallard. They seek their food 

 in the surf, and seem to love to battle with foam-capped 

 breakers and rushing tideways. Other diving-ducks 

 prefer comparatively calm and sheltered nooks, but no 

 wave, back-wash, or eddy seems too strong for these 

 powerful swimmers. They breed in large numbers in 

 the heather, but I was generally either too early or 

 too late for the nesting season, which comes in May. 

 Once only was I privileged to find a nest with the 



