Birds. 9437 



tolerably abundant, both upon the coast and among the lochs. One 

 which was shot in the latter situation, about ten days ago, had the 

 stomach filled with sand, small stones, and the empty skins of some 

 larvas about half an inch in length. During the winter months a few 

 of these birds are almost constantly to be seen upon the voe at Balta- 

 sound, sometimes in deep water, but, when undisturbed, diving within 

 a few yards of the shore, where they feed largely upon the various 

 Mollusca which abound among the rocts. When they are employed 

 in this manner it is easy to approach within shot by running up as 

 they dive, and waiting for their reappearance ; and in this way young 

 birds especially may be obtained, for they are far less wary than the 

 old ones. Occasionally, after having dropped a goldeneye or a tufted 

 duck, it has disappeared beneath the surface, and I have seen it no 

 more ; and the circumstance was a sore perplexity to me until about 

 a fortnight ago, when the mystery was partly explained. A friend of 

 mine fired his last charge at a goldeneye, which fell, slightly wounded, 

 into a mill-dam, instantly dived, reappeared for a moment and dived 

 again, before I was able to hasten up with a fresh supply of ammuni- 

 tion. My friend, having reloaded, remained upon one side of the 

 pool ; I waited at the one opposite, and, setting a dog to guard the 

 mouths of two deep burns, we eagerly watched for the bird, but we 

 watched in vain, for at the end of about half-an-hour not so much as 

 a feather had been seen. Resolved not to lose so favourable an op- 

 portunity of ascertaining the fate of many a lost duck, we raised the 

 sluice and proceeded to drain the pool, one of us constantly watching 

 the water as it flowed through, while the other wandered round the 

 banks, keeping a constant look-out upon every side. The bird could 

 not have escaped, neither could it have died without floating up, and 

 that it had not risen since its second dive we both felt perfectly con- 

 vinced; therefore, in our eagerness to unravel the mystery, we did not 

 grudge the loss of the next two hours, when, the pool having become 

 shallow and greatly reduced in size, we sent in the dog. Soon after- 

 wards I observed a slight bubbling near the sluice, and, guessing its 

 cause, instantly ran down the stream towards the sea ; but the duck 

 must have passed me while I was climbing the wall which crossed my 

 path, for we soon afterwards discovered it flopping about, in a shallow 

 part of the stream, a long way further down. One wing was so much 

 injured by the shot as to prevent flight, and, although we naturally 

 felt sorry for the poor bird, it was a matter of no small satisfaction to 

 have ascertained, nearly beyond doubt, that the goldeneye, like 

 the grebes and some other birds, eludes its enemies by entirely 



