386 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



in quest of molluscs and Crustacea, and coming shorewards in the 

 evening for a change of diet. I have observed that it will often 

 prefer swimming instead of flying to its night quarters; and, after 

 repeatedly noticing this habit, I have lain in wait on an outlying 

 rocky skerry at the river's mouth, knowing I was sure of a shot. 

 Sometimes in very hard winters the flocks of Scaup Ducks are 

 large, but usually the birds live in small groups, occasionally 

 mixing with golden eyes and scoters. On the Outer Hebrides a 

 few frequent the oozy shores between North Uist and Benbecula, 

 on both sides, from the isle of Gremsay on the east to Baleshare 

 on the west. Late in autumn these small parties are seen there 

 at nightfall dabbling in the mud left bare by the tide ; and they 

 usually remain in the neighbourhood of this well known ford 

 throughout the winter. In very stormy weather they appear to 

 seek shelter in the Sound of Harris, where a stray bird occasionally 

 falls to the gun by accident, the species being notorious for the 

 rankness of its flesh, and consequently not in request. Mr J. 

 Macdonald informs me that in the dusk of the evening, when one 

 kind of duck is hardly distinguishable from another, he knocks 

 over a Scaup at times instead of a mallard, but that its numbers 

 are comparatively small, the birds only coming in his way when 

 continued bad weather forces them into the Sound. 



Mr Graham states that this species is a regular winter visitant 

 to lona and the shores of Mull, and that it is often killed near the 

 coast in fresh water. It is likewise seen occasionally on the shores 

 of Islay. 



Scaup Ducks appear to linger through the summer in some parts 

 of Scotland. One instance is given by Sir William Jardine, who 

 shot a female bird near Loch Erribol, in Sutherlandshire ; and Dr 

 Saxby states that it is occasionally observed in summer in the 

 Shetlands. 



THE TUFTED DUCK. 

 FULIGULA CRIST AT A. 



IN very severe winters the Tufted Duck is much more frequently 

 obtained than in open seasons. This may arise from its habit of 

 keeping out at sea, or well off shore in the firths and estuaries in 

 moderate weather, and coming into our rivers to feed when it is too 



