THE ZooLocisT—JaNUARY, 1875. 4271 
its corner, flung a scarlet petticoat over it, and while thus bewildered and 
entangled it was carried away.”—P. 232. 
The lesser swan (Cygnus minor) is occasionally seen in Shetland 
in company with the hooper, and we are told that its flesh is superior 
in flavour; but the bird is not such a favourite with the Shetlanders, 
who, rarely having the chance of a meal of fresh meat, naturally 
prefer quantity to quality; so the larger bird is preferred to the 
less. In all the specimens Dr. Saxby obtained, “ the tarsi and feet 
were tinged with olive-brown,” a character that has escaped our 
systematic naturalists, probably from their want of acquaintance 
with recent specimens. 
The shieldrake, although breeding abundantly in Orkney, is all 
but unknown in these islands. This seems extraordinary, as the 
extensive “rabbit-links,” in which it delights, are so abundant. 
Three specimens only have been recorded as occurring in Shet- 
land. 
The pintail duck seems the harbinger of storm: so deep is 
Dr. Saxby’s conviction on this head that the pintail was always 
associated in his imagination with storms of driving sleet and snow, 
‘and the surface of a loch torn into spray.” Once, and once only, 
he had an opportunity of observing this species in fair weather, 
and that was on a Sunday evening in the middle of May. He con- 
cealed himself among the willows at Halligarth, and enjoyed the 
spectacle to his heart’s content; the birds landed from the loch on 
the coarse grass which surrounded it, and after a time spent in 
preening their feathers, commenced an attack on the winged insects 
which they disturbed. “The easy and even graceful manner in 
which they effected their repeated captures was to me very sur- 
prising; they ran straightforward, rapidly and lightly, giving one 
quite a new idea of a duck ashore.” 
The eider duck was always a favourite of mine. To us 
southerners it is a vara avis, for seldom indeed does the sight of 
a wild bird gladden our eyes: true that it breeds on the Farn 
Islands; true also that Mr. Selby tells us that it is not protected, 
and, with the genuine feelings of a landowner, laments that its eggs 
should be taken indiscriminately with those of gulls and guillemcts 
and sold for a mere trifle to the inhabitants of the mainland. This 
desecration, however, is not now so common as formerly, and 
the eider seems likely to maintain a footing, or more properly 
