OENITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES. 97 



ness and this is the only breeding station of this bird 

 anywhere nearer than St. Kilda. 



It was a long but pleasant sail home. On a single 

 rock standing out from the shore stood a pair of 

 herring gulls, hesitating in a very evident manner as 

 to whether or not it was time to rise upon the wing. 

 Wishing to uncharge my gun, T fired, and killed them 

 both at a shot. On a small skerrie off Cubister were 

 some scarfes, amongst which we could distinguish 

 one eider duck, or dunter, as they are here termed. I 

 managed to get a fair shot at it, bat unfortunately missed 

 the bird. A few of these ducks remain here to breed, 

 but we did not succeed in finding any of their nests. 

 They breed also in Rowsay and other islands, and accord- 

 ing to St. John, upon some small islands off the Kyle of 

 Tongue, on the north coast of Sutherland ; and that 

 splendid bird the king duck (Anas spectabilis) is occa- 

 sionally though rarely seen in their companionship. 

 Upon the whole they are a heavy bird upon the wing, 

 and though strong and active in other respects, their 

 flight appears to be more sluggish than that of other 

 ducks. It was just about this point, a few weeks 

 previous, that Joseph succeeded in bagging a fine male 

 example of the velvet scoter (Anas fuse ), which I have 

 added to my other specimens. 



Nothing could have been more unexceptionable than 

 the day in question, but, notwithstanding its general 

 serenity, a keen and freshening breeze had made a 



H 



