Birds. 9487 



immature great blackbacked gulls came sailing over, and, greatly to my 

 surprise, one of them made a sudden sloop at the goldeueye, which, 

 being wounded, failed in an attempt to dive, but almost at the same 

 instant the gull seized it by the upper part of the neck, and, after 

 having risen for a few feet, let it fall back into the water. Another of 

 the gulls then seized it, and repeated the same process twice, and then 

 as their — I mean owr— unfortunate victim lay dead, .with its breast 

 uppermost, all three commenced charging at it with their bills, tearing 

 out the feathers at each stroke. They paid not the smallest regard to 

 my shouts ; but when, not relishing the idea of losing my specimen, 

 I fired a barrel in their direction, they made off, leaving the duck to 

 drift ashore about three quarters of a mile further up the voe. Gulls 

 of all kinds are so frequently seen flying over goldeneyes and various 

 kinds of ducks without attempting to molest them, that this occurrence 

 is not a little remarkable, and I can only account for it by supposing 

 that the blood upon the wounded bird was the cause of attraction. 

 The great blackbacked gull is not at all particular in its choice of food ; 

 it seems to prefer carrion to almost everything else, and the natives of 

 these islands assert that " it will even feed upon a human." I have 

 heard of a Shetlander, who, having climbed to the nest of a bird of this 

 species, in order to take the young, found a man's finger, which had 

 been brought to them as food. 



Snipe. — On the 19lh of November, a calm day succeeding a series 

 of extremely heavy gales, I went into the island of Balta for the pur- 

 pose of shooting snipe, and although fully expecting to find them in 

 some abundance, was scarcely prepared to meet with them in flocks. 

 As soon as the first shot was fired, seventy individuals at the very least 

 rose almost simultaneously from a small marshy piece of ground about 

 twenty yards square. They broke up into several parties, soaring 

 high and wildly, and I took advantage of this to form an estimate of 

 their number : this 1 did with care, well knowing how apt one is to 

 form an exaggerated opinion in similar cases. The unusual length of 

 the grass was the probable cause of the gathering, and the situation of 

 the spot was well calculated to afford them abundance of food as well 

 as shelter. There were other, but much smaller, flocks in various parts 

 of the island. 



Teal. — Teal are not very common here, although a few occasionally 

 remain to breed. They usually occur in spring, but I have lately seen 

 several small parties upon the lochs. 



Glaucous Gull. — On the 22nd of November about a hundred and 

 forty glaucous gulls flew over, in the face of a gale from the S.E. The 

 greater number consisted of young birds. 



