THE ZooLocGist—Manrcu, 1872. 2967 
The commonest of all the wild geese of the West of Scotland is 
the bernicle, which is especially abundant in the Outer Hebrides. 
Mr. Gray relates the following singular habit of this species :— 
“Previous to leaving, the bernicle geese assemble in immense flocks on 
the open sands, at low tide, in the Sounds of Benbecula and South Uist; 
and as soon as one detachment is on the wing it is seen to be guided by a 
leader, who points the way with a strong flight northwards, maintaining a 
noisy bearing until he gets the flock into the right course. After an hour’s 
interval, he is seen returning with noisy gabble, alone, southwards to the 
main body and taking off another detachment as before, until the whole 
are gone.” 
The longtailed duck appears to be a most amusing bird: Mr. 
Gray complains that ornithologists have not done justice to it. 
The species is by no means so rare as it has been commonly 
represented. In the winter season it is a very common bird among 
the Hebrides, and small flocks regularly frequent the whole of the 
eastern and western sea-bords of Scotland. The longtailed duck 
delights in wild and stormy weather. 
“No creature,” writes a correspondent to Mr. Gray, “revels more amidst 
the gloom and rage and horrors of winter than the ice duck. The cry of 
this bird is very remarkable, and has obtained for it the Gaelic name of 
Lach Bhinn, or the musical duck, which is most appropriate, for when the 
voices of a number are heard in concert, rising and falling, borne along upon 
the breeze between the rollings of the surf, the effect is musical, wild, and 
startling. The united cry of a large flock sounds very like bagpipes at a 
distance, but the note of a single bird when heard very near is certainly not 
so agreeable. On one occasion I took great pains to learn the note, and the 
following words are the nearest approach that can be given of it in writing: 
it articulates them very distinctly, though im a musical bugle-like tone ;— 
‘Our, 0, u, ah! cur, 0, u, ah!’ Sometimes the note seems to break down 
in the middle, and the bird gets no further than owr, or ower, which it runs 
over several times, but then, as with an effort, the whole cry is completed 
loud and clear, and repeated several times, as if in triumph. At this time 
they were busily feeding, diving in very deep water on a sand bottom, and 
calling to one another when they rose to the surface. * * * * They 
are of a very lively and restless disposition, continually rising on the wing, 
flying round and round in circles, chasing one another, hurrying along the 
surface, half flying, half swimming, and accompanying all these gambols 
with their curious cries. When the storms are at their loudest, and the 
wayes running mountains high, then their glee seems to reach its highest 
