LETTER XX. 139 



of Mull with his ramrod " All God's works are lovely ; every 

 beast and every bird is bonniest of its kind. 'Deed, sir, and the 

 Hoodie Craw hersel' is a pratty, pratty beast, if it were na that 

 she's just ver min." 



Ah ! and if we catch a Scart, is he not capable of being dis- 

 cussed in another way ? Indeed he is. 



Keep a sufficiently long time, skin off his jacket, and make 

 him into soup. It requires a couple to make it good, and then I 

 defy the Court of Common Council or a jury of aldermen to detect 

 the difference between it and the finest hare soup. A curry does 

 indifferently well ; and the liver, which is of a large size, is as 

 good as that of the Goose. 1 



Having decided the gastronomic value of our friend, let us 

 consider the ways and means of obtaining a few individuals to 

 garnish our larder withal. 



In winter, especially when stormy, we shall see them fishing 

 at half tide close along the rocks and in the shallow sandy bays. 

 They are wary ; and, diving, they take care to get a good offing if 

 they see the least danger. But it is nice practice to stalk one, 

 running from one hiding-place to another, while the bird is below 

 water, till we succeed in attaining a rock that is within reach of 

 him. As he emerges from the water he turns about his head in 

 search of anything suspicious, and carefully examines the shore 

 before he will dive again, lest it conceal a lurking foe. In good 

 weather it is more amusing to follow our game upon its own 

 element. We should approach the swimming bird to windward, 



1 We can testify to the truth of the remark by our author regarding the 

 similarity of scart soup to hare soup. Vide also p. 262. ED. 



