The Birds of Shy c. 133 



ment, the female sits very closely, and only quits the nest 

 most reluctantly. The male is generally in the vicinity. 



During winter, the Mergansers of the year are gregarious ; 

 but the old males are often solitary, and may frequently be 

 observed diving alone in some favourite bay, or skimming 

 rapidly over the water, exhibiting a large extent of white in 

 the wing. But though, when alarmed, or desirous of shifting 

 quarters, Mergansers generally rise low on the wing, soon 

 dropping again ; yet in early spring they are fond of " flight- 

 ing " in the evening, nine or ten birds flying together at a 

 respectable height. Breeding couples are paired by the 

 middle of April, and it is entertaining to watch the move- 

 ments of a rejected suitor, following bashfully in the rear of 

 the fair one whose favour he has failed to secure ; on such 

 occasions the paired drake constantly contrives to interpose 

 between the forlorn bachelor and his lady-love. Even in the 

 breeding season the Merganser is a shy species ; and though 

 they often swim into the shelter of rocks, so that one can lie 

 in wait for them, yet I have not yet seen a Merganser escape 

 by diving. On Dunvegan Loch they always rise, if alarmed, 

 upon the wing, though they generally drop into the sea again 

 before they have flown very far. Neither have I seen them 

 circle round a boat; they prefer to go off in a nearly straight 

 line, calculating their distance. They are fond of feeding in 

 the shallows at the mouths of burns. At the mouth of the 

 Greshornish river an old male may often be seen feeding — 

 not diving (the water is too shallow), but feeding stern upper- 

 most. Only once have I happened to see the Merganser 

 ashore, when not nesting ; in this instance we surprised a 

 pair one afternoon which were resting ashore on some tangle- 

 covered rocks on the east side of Dunvegan Loch. A bird of 

 the year has been living, to my knowledge, for three months 

 in a coop in Leadenhall, and the poor captive seems to thrive 

 amazingly well upon his straw litter. 



The fact that the Merganser does not increase in numbers 

 on Dunvegan Loch is probably due to the fact that the 

 tenants often take the eggs when gathering whelks; but 

 Captain Macdonald informs me that Larus marinus is a dire 

 foe to the downy young. 



