Birds. 9765 



they would come dashing over my head, uttering loud cries, wild 

 enough al any time, but sounding most unearthly when mingled with 

 the yelping of the common^ gull and the m}slerious drumming and 

 clicking of the snipe upon the desolate peat-moors at midnight. 

 There were not many common gulls, and, so far as could be ascertained, 

 they were not upon the watch, but only approached me when 1 hap- 

 pened to intrude in tlieir haunts. 



Wild Duck. — Early on the morning of the 4lh I came rather 

 suddenly near a female wild duck and two young ones, which were 

 sitting among the stones at the edge of a rather extensive loch. The 

 young ones had apparently been hatched about three weeks or a month, 

 and rushed off into the water, with extraordinary speed, considering 

 the broken nature of the ground. The old bird, fluttering and 

 tumbling into the water, went splashing along with wings and feet 

 quite in a different direction,* which happening to be the one in 

 which I was going, I followed at leisure. When the young ones had 

 proceeded about eighty yards from the land they dived, and 1 saw them 

 no more, but the old bird, after alternately flapping along the surface, 

 and, upon my approach, rising for about a yard and flying steadily for 

 a short distance, suddenly rose for about ten feet, quacked loudly two 

 or three times, and made a wide sweep to the spot from which she had 

 been disturbed. 



W/ieaiear. — Well-fledged young wheatears were very abundant 

 early in July. 



Great Northern Diver. — About the end of June, Mr. W. Hamilton, 

 observing three northern divers near the shore at Bressay, concealed 

 himself behind a boat, and, as they neared him, shot two. One was 

 an adult in perfect summer pkimage, the other a young one, about six 

 inches less in length. The one which escaped was also evidently a 

 first year's bird. 



Laud Hails. — Land rails are still to be heard, but chiefly at night. I 

 have just heard of one which was shot in a turnip field last November. 

 In the Catalogue of the Birds of Orkney by Dr. Baikie and Mr. Heddle, 

 this species is mentioned as probably remaining there all the year, seve- 

 ral having been dug out of old turf-dykes during winter. On the 14th 

 a mower accidentally laid bare a land rail's nest, containing ten eggs 

 almost ready for hatching, but upon my reaching the spot shortly 

 afterwards the bird was nowhere in sight, although she had been seen 

 there less than half a minute previously. I remained for about five 

 minutes examining the nest and eggs, the man who accompanied me 

 standing all the while upon a handful of hay, which he had thrown 



