TO ORKNEY AND SHETLAND. 45 



ing the church ; whether this is done from a mo- 

 tive of economy or cleanliness,, I do not know, hut 

 in my opinion it is carrying either to too great an 

 extreme, and is moreover a practice which many 

 would gladly see dispensed with. 



On the 2nd of July I went down the South Voe 

 to Ilswickness, where I found several Eider Ducks, 

 but only shot one. The weather being too bois- 

 terous to allow of my going out to sea, I sailed to 

 a voe in the immediate neighbourhood, called 

 Gunnesta, where I shot an other Eider Duck; from 

 thence to Hammee Voe, where I landed, and pro- 

 ceeded to a lake a short distance inland, in conse- 

 quence of having been informed that the Lesser 

 Black -backed Gull bred there. On arriving at 

 the edge of the lake, I shot a female Red-throated 

 Diver as she flew from her nest, if it deserves that 

 term : in the nest were two eggs ; they were laid 

 close to the water's edge, among a few loose stones, 

 and must inevitably have been overflown had there 

 been any wind on this the lee side. I was some- 

 what disappointed in not meeting with the Gulls; 

 but as there were two or three more lakes a short 

 distance from this, I thought it probable we might 

 fall in with them there. On visiting these lakes 

 I saw several Red-throated Divers, but very few 

 Gulls ; the former had either been alarmed at the 



