Spring Notes from various Scottish Islands. 207


was able to go very close to both islands. At first we steamed along

under the St. Kilda cliffs and thousands of Fulmars swooped round

and over us on every side ; then, as we turned off towards Boreray,

the Fulmars thinned off and the air was thick with Gannets. Apropos

of the destruction of fish by these birds, which is now being

investigated by a Committee appointed by the Fishery Board, it may

be worth mentioning that a trawler which had been fishing round

Stack Lii and Boreray had made such a big haul of fish that they

took a rest in St. Kilda Bay from early Saturday afternoon to

Monday morning before returning home. The mate supplied the

information to my captain, and those who know anything of life on

board these trawlers will be aware that only when the fishing has

been exceptionally good can they afford themselves the luxury of a

voluntary rest both night and day.


On my return from St. Kilda on 26th May, I visited Barra, an

island that I know best under the influence of November gales. Seen

at this time of the year, in brilliant sunshine and clothed with a

carpet of Thrift, Primroses and Marsh Marigolds, it and the adjacent

islands are hardly recognisable. Most of the Waders had left, but I

saw a flock of twenty to thirty Bar-tailed Godwits* There were

also a number of Great Northern Divers in many stages of plumage,

and both Arctic and Common Terns were nesting there. Numbers of

Gannets fished in the Sound every afternoon, and, as I have seen it

stated ( The Gannet, Gurney, p. 400 > that they are unable to catch fish

in a perfectly calm sea, it may be of interest to mention that I

have frequently seen them fishing here, as also off the Mull of

Cantyre, when there was not a ripple on the water.


On the 16th June a great number of Manx Shearwaters were

observed off the Isles of the Sea, and again on the 17th between the

Sound of Sleat and Eigg, some being seen as far north as Gairloch.

Two Great Northern Divers were also noticed.


On the 19th June I visited the Stack of “ Stack and Skerry.”

The island lies about 27 miles north of the north coast of Sunderland

and 4i miles from the Sule Skerry. It is one of the principal breed¬

ing resorts of the Gannet. The Stack is divided into two almost

equal portions, the sea running through a narrow cleft between the

two islands. There was too much swell for landing at the time of my



