THE BIRDS OF IONA AND MULL. 



long time; yet he was in excellent condition. That was an 

 unlucky bird, yet I pity more the poor fellow who lost him, and 

 perhaps accused himself of having missed a fine shot. I have 

 sometimes got birds (as a Pigeon, Golden Plover, or Dunlin Sand- 

 piper), with only one leg; that is to say, they seemed to have 

 lost one foot, or else were naturally deformed ; but these were 

 always in as good condition, and as fat, as their companions, who 

 had the advantage of possessing a proper assortment of legs. 

 The winter before last I caught a Gannet which had one leg 

 diseased in a very curious way; it was swollen to more than 

 double the natural size, and was full of dark-coloured blood. 

 He swam in from the sea, and walked up on to the rocks, where 

 he allowed himself to be taken without attempting to resist. 



On Saturday I shot a pair of Teal upon a small loch in lona, 

 which reminded me of an adventure I had there a long time ago, 

 and which I mention : I had shot a nice little Drake Teal in the 

 middle of the loch, which I was very desirous to get, as I wished to 

 take a drawing of him ; but having no dog, I stripped and went in 

 after him. The water was not beyond my depth, but the bottom 

 was very soft, oozy mud, which held one's feet as firmly as the 

 stocks, while all around the water was filled with a tangled mass 

 of aquatic plants, which closed about one's limbs like a strongly- 

 woven net ; and there I hung like a fly in a cobweb, floundering 

 about like Milton's Satan in chaos. It was a very long time 

 before I could extricate myself, and I was very nearly sticking 

 there for good ; however, I secured my bird, but resolved not to 

 be without a dog in future, as such places are excessively 

 dangerous. 



