The Zoologist — August, 1867. 859 



some twenty trout, which weighed ten pounds, with two or three at 

 one pound. 



Friday, June J 4. — Having driven over to Scowrie, and made arrange- 

 ments with our two cragsmen last night, we set off to Handa this 

 morning, and were more successful in our visit this time, obtaining a 

 fine series of guillemot's and kittiwake's eggs as well as razorbill's and 

 puffin's. At one time Peter must have brought up some sixty pounds 

 weight of eggs in the pockets of Mr. Jesse's shooting coat. We shot 

 some specimens of the rock birds for skins, and sat up till one o'clock 

 in the morning, washing, blowing and marking eggs. The breeding- 

 place of the great blackbacked gulls is perfectly inaccessible to man ; 

 at least up to this present date no man has ever stood on the top of 

 •'The Stack." This stack is an isolated pillar of rock on the northern 

 portion of the island, fully as high as the main island : in it there are 

 still a considerable number of puffins, the rats not having been in this 

 case any more active than the nobler animal. There is a small colony 

 of great blackbacked gulls and legions of guillemots, kittiwakes, razor- 

 bills, &c, breeding on it. I consider that there are far more birds on 

 the island of Handa than at Hoy Head in Orkney, the Bass Rock in 

 the Firth of Forth, and Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde put together, 

 and I have seen them all at close quarters except the last, which I 

 only viewed at about a quarter of a mile distance. To-day we were 

 not able to go round Handa in a boat, owing to the sea which was 

 running, but any birds we wanted we either noosed on the ledges with 

 a fishing-rod and hair-noose, or shot them so as to make them drop 

 on the land (which last is very good practice). 



Saturday, June 15. — To-day we visited the Badcall Islands, and 

 helped ourselves very liberally to cormorant's eggs, which we found 

 (even at this late date) on a rock where any child might have lifted 

 them without danger or fear of danger. We failed in getting black 

 guillemot's, which are now becoming rare on Handa and the Badcall 

 Islands, perhaps owing to the rats, but more likely to the introduction 

 of sheep to both places. We also took a few herring gull's eggs, which 

 bird seems to be far from common on the west coast. Saw immense 

 numbers of oystercatchers, but were too late for their eggs. Those 

 eggs of the oystercatcher which we took in Glen Coul were much 

 smaller than any I ever saw or took before, but the fisherman who 

 piloted us said that he never saw them there any larger: they are 

 sometimes called " ministers" by the fishermen, and are believed to 

 forewarn the latter of storiny weather. The refuse of crabs and limpets 



