246 THE BIRDS OF ION A AND MULL. 



in the sand, and the young broods are often met swimming a little way 

 from the land, convoyed by one or two of the old birds, who show their 

 uneasiness by flying about, rising and alighting just out of shot of the 

 approaching boat. But their anxiety for their little ones is groundless, 

 as the little downy creatures are quite able to take care of themselves. 

 They disperse in all directions, and dive and double under water with 

 surprising agility and cunning, so as to make catching them impossible. 

 Being mud -feeders, we never cared to shoot the sheildrakes for the pot, 

 for, in spite of their fine feathers, they are but foul feeding. Neither 

 feeding on land like geese, nor on fish and seaweed like the true 

 maritime tribes, they are "neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring." 



THE MALLARD. 



Gaelic, Lach and Tonnag the latter from tonn, a wave. " Lorg na lacha," the 

 track of the duck i.e., to go by water. Norse, Gras-aml grass duck. 



Wild-fowl shooting has been so well described by Colonel Hawker, 

 St John, and other giants of sporting literature as to render my 

 attempts at making any original remarks on the subject very lili- 

 putian. I can only state that the wild duck is still plentiful among 

 the islands, where it is known as the "big Scotch duck," in distinction 

 to the widgeon, which is the " Norwegian duck." Nests are found on 

 nearly all the fresh-water lakes, large and small. We have often put 

 their eggs under a common hen, the result being a brood of very wild 

 little ducklings, which require having their wings cut early, and con- 

 stant watching to prevent them running away ; and it takes three or 

 four generations before they become quite domestic, and in proportion 

 as they become so, their plumage begins to vary from the uniform 

 colour of the original wild stock, and their forms lose the elegant grace 

 and lightness of their ancestry. These reclaimed birds keep aloof from 

 the dull denizens of the duck-pond ; they often take long flights, and 

 will make their nest in strange out-of-the-way places, such as the roof 

 of a cow-shed ten feet above the ground. 



THE WIDGEON. 



Is more numerous than the last in winter, but more local, congre- 

 gating in large flocks in every suitable bay. Loch Gilp and other inlets 

 of Loch Fyne, Loch Tarbert, Jura, Loch Swein, Feochain, Caolisport, 

 &c., and many other lochs on the mainland and islands of Argyll, are 



