NOTES AND QUERIES. 147 
plucking and devouring its prey on the wing: certainly there was nowhere 
it could rest for the purpose, but I should have thought the difficulties of 
the operation would have quite rendered it impossible. Have any of the 
readers of ‘The Zoologist’ seen a similar case? — Henry Laver 
(Colchester). 
Method of Fishing adopted by Diving Birds.—As I have ascertained 
that the following fact is not well known, I send you this account in the 
hope that it may be of interest to naturalists and tothe general public. 
Anyone who lives in the Western Hebrides will have often watched on a 
calm day the sea-birds feeding with noisy clamour in the sea-lochs and 
about the numerous islands. This is especially the case in August, when 
the shoals of small herring are very plentiful. Some years ago, when in a 
sailing-boat off the west coast of Mull, I caught with a hand-net a dishful 
of these small fry as they swam along the surface of the water. Last year, 
noticing from a steam-launch the birds congregated in great numbers at one 
spot, the idea struck me to steam to the place and try to get a share of the 
birds’ repast. The idea was at once carried out. I stood on the prow with 
landing-net in hand, and the launch was steered towards the birds. As we 
drew near, the banqueters flew away with evident dissatisfaction at the 
interruption, a few of the more greedy making their last hasty dives. In 
another moment we were at the spot, and I saw, to my intense surprise, 
about two feet under the surface, a large reddish brown ball, two to three 
feet in length and two feet in depth. I made a frantic swoop with the net 
into the ball, and brought on deck half a pailful of the sea-birds’ dinner. 
Even as we passed we could see the great living ball sinking and breaking 
into pieces. This year I and others have tried the same spot with great 
success. Sometimes the ball has sunk too deep to be reached ; sometimes 
there was no ball to be seen; but on the most successful day I filled a 
pailful in three hauls. In September we saw no ball, because, perhaps, 
the fish had grown too large for the birds to manage. As far as I can 
judge, the modus operandi is carried out by the divers, who surround a 
shoal and hem them in on all sides, so that the terrified fish huddle together 
in a vain effort to escape inevitable destruction. The divers work from 
below and other sea-birds feed from above; and, as in some cases after the 
birds had been at work for some time I saw no ball, I suppose not one fish 
is left to tell the tale. I must leave to naturalists the real explanation of 
the matter; but I may mention that, when disturbed by the boat, the 
divers seem to come to the surface in a great ring round the scene of their 
feast. I may also mention that once, when the boat was still 300 or 
400 yards away, the birds suddenly rose and whirled about with frightened 
screams. I wondered what could be the cause, until I saw the round back 
of a porpoise rolling lazily round at the exact spot, and then rolling back 
again. When we steamed past there was no sign of a ball. What two 
