CH. I. DIVERS AND WILD GEESE. \) 



to see what birds were breeding there. We first 

 made for a small island covered with the brightest 

 green foliage that I ever saw, which, however, turned 

 out to be nothing but the wild leek. The nature 

 of the plant was most unpleasantly forced upon my 

 observation by the very strong scent the leaves pro- 

 duced when trodden upon. 



There were three of these beautiful birds (the 

 black-throated diver) on the loch, but no eggs. 

 On some of the other islands were a number of 

 wild geese {Anser ferns), the original kind from 

 which our common domestic goose is derived. They 

 had two or three nests on one island, but we found 

 no eggs. Their nests were large and quite exposed ; 

 consisting of a large mass of down, kept together by 

 coarse grass and herbage. The old birds, when dis- 

 turbed, flew off the island, some of them alighting on 

 the loch, and others on the short green grass about the 

 edge of the water, where they commenced grazing 

 after the manner of tame geese. Having procured 

 one or two specimens of the black-throated diver, 

 I landed, and sat down to enjoy the magnificent 

 scenery and all its accompaniments. The peewit, 

 redshank, curlew, and golden plover kept up a 

 constant warfare of clamour against me for some 

 time, till, finding that I did not molest them, they 

 gradually returned to their domestic occupations. 



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