A VISIT TO LOCH SWEN, ARGYLLSHIRE. 283 



winters ago I saw eight, in one lot, pitch in the Findhorn Bay, 

 and shot one — a fine specimen — later on. In the winter of 

 1880-81 a flock of twelve pitched close "to the village of Find- 

 horn, but I happened then to be at a place farther along the 

 coast, so they escaped molestation. Others I saw at the inlet 

 I was shooting in, so that they must have been numerous on the 

 coast generally. Now, here in the West, I have seen none, and 

 the country people seem scarcely to know them. As to wild 

 geese, the Brent, which affords so much sport on the east coast, 

 is decidedly scarce, and its place is sparsely supplied by the 

 larger Grey-lag, which is locally numerous, but prefers green 

 fields to the puntsman's domain — salt water. 



Ducks — i.e., the Common Duck and Mallard — are tolerably 

 plentiful in the West, and on Loch Swen the pretty little Teal is 

 abundant, and the Wigeon in some places numerous. Last 

 winter I frequently saw over one hundred together, which for 

 mild weather is pretty fair. The Golden-eye is a very common 

 duck in the West, the Scaup not so plentiful, the Tufted Duck 

 conspicuous by its absence, and the Sheldrake's variegated 

 plumage a rare sight, there being but half-a-dozen pairs on this 

 large loch — contrasting ill with the sandy plains of Moray, where 

 I have seen at least three hundred together. The Velvet Scoter 

 was to be seen, though not numerous ; the Common Scoter I did 

 not properly identify, but the Eider, as the spring came on, 

 became numerous at the mouth of the loch and amongst the 

 isles. That handsome bird, the Long-tailed Duck, whose sonorous 

 cry rings out so frequently over the waters of the Orcadian sounds, 

 and bays and firths of the north-eastern coast, was not met with ; 

 perhaps we were too far south, for I fancy this bird is common 

 enough in the Outer Hebrides. 



The Bed-breasted Merganser was about the commonest bird 

 we had. This bird is about the most destructive to Trout of any 

 in the Highlands, and as it is very prolific — sometimes having a 

 brood of a dozen — the mischief it does is hardly repaid by the 

 gratification afforded by the undoubtedly handsome appearance 

 of the male bird. When not much molested, Mergansers are 

 fond of sitting ashore and basking on the rocks, in sheltered 

 nooks and corners, and many a time, when cautiously pushing 

 round some bay in my punt, I have approached within a few feet 

 of them before they observed me. At such times it was amusing 



