SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



97 



They would alight close to the doors of the houses 

 and contend with the domestic fowls, or the house- 

 hold cat or mongrel dog for any stray morsel of 

 edible matter. In some cases they even entered 

 the houses, and one man who lives close to the sea 

 told me that, in consequence, his boys had done a 

 good thing in gull catching. They set open the 

 front and back doors of the cottage and concealed 

 themselves within, when the birds began to fly 

 through the passage and at last to alight in the 

 living room. By simply closing the doors they 

 were enabled to capture a great number, whose 

 fate, I am afraid, was not of the happiest. Your 

 western Highlander, although by no means a hard- 

 hearted being as far as his own species is concerned, 

 has, as yet, no conception of a humanity that 

 extends itself to all living things. The old hunter 

 instinct is still strong within him, and he regards 

 wild animals as only so much raw material 

 furnished by nature to supply his wants, whether 

 it be for the nutriment of the body or for the 

 gratification of that delight in killing which with 

 the natural man is as inherent as it is with any 

 other beast of prey. One man, after obtaining a 

 number of specimens, clipped their wings and went 

 about selling them for domestic pets, which, I 

 fancy, in many cases would be simply toys for 

 the children. 



After the heavy fall of snow on February 7th, the 

 small birds seemed driven to extremity. Every 

 bare strip of sand on the sea-shore and every 

 sheltered nook that was clear of snow swarmed 

 with them. A small field, through which I had 

 occasion to pass daily, afforded an unusually good 

 place of refuge. It lies at a lower level than the 

 surrounding country, is bounded by a stone wall, 

 and, being protected by some high mounds on the 

 north and east, had been merely touched by the 

 skirts of the storm as it passed over. It was 

 consequently almost free from snow, and advantage 

 had been taken of this circumstance to make it a 

 temporary sheep-fold. The animals were fed daily 

 with turnips and the "draff" or grains from the 

 adjacent distillery. Here then, while the frost 

 lasted, some thousands of small birds found food 

 and comparative shelter ; and here certain species, 

 which we are not accustomed to regard as gregarious, 

 might be seen in flocks. These included the hedge- 

 sparrows, wrens and robins. There was also a fair 

 proportion of wagtails, chaffinches, linnets and 

 greenfinches ; but the whole of these were out- 

 numbered, as ten to one, by the larks. The tame- 

 ness of these last was very remarkable. On being 

 approached, the other species would make a short 

 flight and settle again, but the larks would not rise 

 on the wing. They would run to right and left as 

 I advanced, opening a passage for me, but if I stood 

 still, they would gradually close in about me and go 

 on feeding with the utmost indifference to my 



presence. It would have been quite easy to have 

 killed any number of them with a switch, after the 

 manner, related by Darwin, of the buy in the 

 Galapagos Islands. 



Outside the limits of this sanctuary, I saw num- 

 bers of dead birds, the most common of which 

 were wagtails and lapwings ; but as I remarked 

 before, my survey was limited. The mortality over 

 the whole island must, I think, have been very 

 great. A gamekeeper told me he had seen dead 

 birds of all kinds, even grouse and crows, the last 

 of which I take to be the hardiest of the feathered 

 race. During the frost, he said, a gun was almost 

 superfluous. Even those wary birds, the curlews, 

 had, to use his own words, " come about the doors 

 like hens to be fed," and numbers of them had 

 been killed by boys with sticks and stones. He had 

 examined some of them, and found that they were 

 scarcely more than skin, bones and feathers. 



Among other unusual circumstances I may 

 mention that I saw several moor-hens (Gallinida 

 chloropus) looking for food in the ebb of the sea ; 

 and my friend Dr. Gilmore had a water-rail (Rallus 

 aquaticus) brought to him, which I understand was 

 found in a like situation. The last is a rare bird 

 in this island. 



With regard to the mammalia, I think they did 

 not suffer nearly so much as the birds, though I 

 have few reliable data to go upon. I saw one dead 

 hare in the open, and heard of others ; but a 

 couple of rabbits shot by the distiller here, after 

 the frost, were in fairly good condition, although 

 their feeding-grounds had been covered with snow 

 for some weeks. While on the subject, I may add 

 that two otters have been taken recently at Laga- 

 vulin, about a mile-and-a-half from here. One, I 

 understand, was a dog-otter of extraordinary size, 

 but I had no opportunity of seeing it or of obtain- 

 ing measurements. 



Laphroaig, Islay ; April 15th, 1S95. 



The Horse's Foot. — Some interesting facts 

 relating to this subject were brought forward in a 

 lecture recently delivered at the Royal Institution 

 by Veterinary Captain Frederick Smith. The 

 physiology of the foot, said the lecturer, centred 

 round the amount of moisture contained in the 

 horn of the foot, which, when moist, was soft and 

 elastic, but when dry became hard and brittle. A 

 horse always put the back part of his foot to the 

 ground first, and so the purpose of the elastic, 

 rubber-like structure of the pad was to save the 

 leg from concussion. The front part was harder 

 because it had to support the wear and tear of 

 friction with the ground. Although the footpad 

 played so important a part it was usually removed 

 by the farrier, and then a thriving trade was done 

 in artificial pads. Horses in London would last 

 very much longer if they were allowed the use of 

 the pads with which the foot had been provided 

 by nature. Another evil in shoeing, as generally 

 practised, was the paring away of the horn of the 

 sole. 



