16 JANUARY 



only as a bachelor ; let no professor nourish the 

 ambition of adding another chapter to the ' Loves of 

 the Plants ' by importing his bride also, else there 

 will be unpleasantness. 



Meanwhile, although the appearance of this weed 

 on a sheet of ornamental water is nothing short of a 

 calamity, it is a calamity not without mitigation. 

 The angler may weep or swear, according to tem- 

 perament or sex ; but great is the gain to the wild- 

 fowler and naturalist, for this succulent weed offers 

 irresistible attraction to numberless aquatic birds. 

 Here, on the White Loch of Myrtoun (which is the 

 name of our sanctuary), the effect on bird life has 

 been remarkable. Simultaneously with the out- 

 burst of Elodea, the widgeon arrived. This beauti- 

 ful duck, though common on the adjacent sea-coast, 

 was never seen, at least by me, on this lake till the 

 autumn of 1893, when five of them spent the winter 

 there, and added their wild whistle to the familiar 

 sounds of the place. The following year there were 

 about a score, and, at the moment of writing (1896) 

 they may be seen in hundreds. 



Their presence has given quite a new character to 

 the winter population. The chief arrivals in autumn 

 used to consist of pochards, clad in silvery grey and 



