410 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



just above this bank that the Divers have made their nest, 

 which has but one egg in it, a fact which, as the proper 

 complement is two, and the period of incubation now well 

 advanced donne furieusement a penser. Still more is this the 

 case in respect of another single egg lying in another nest — a 

 Swan's namely — which crowns as with a huge, brown sombrero 

 the little green islet-head, on which, since it is close to the 

 shore, my tent looks directly down. This one egg had three 

 fellows to it : where are they now ? But not only that — another 

 four that were never hatched, preceded them : where are they 

 now ? Gulls have been mentioned to me as a possible answer 

 to this question. Great Black-backed Gulls certainly haunt 

 these Iceland lakes, but they more affect the larger ones, on 

 islands in which they even build. This, though it would be a 

 large loch in the Shetlands, hardly falls under that category 

 here, nor (anticipating) have I seen any either in it or in others 

 adjoining to it, for several lie about, and are possibly connected 

 with each other. It is the same where I have just come from. 

 The great lake is uniformly tenanted by these Gulls — and these 

 alone — at least during this season of the year, but in the lake- 

 like expanses of the river though they are quite near to it and 

 contain islands on which Swans build I have not seen any. 

 But allowing their presence, what, one may well ask, are the 

 Swans about that they should allow themselves to be thus 

 caught napping, or braved with impunity ? 



'• Is the chair empty '? is the sword unswayed ? " 



Seldom, I think, if ever, is this the case. From what I have 

 seen, both here and in the Swannery at Abbotsbury the " empire" 

 whilst vulnerable is never " unpossessed." In the Shetlands too 

 I have seen the Bed-throated Diver and Great Black-backed 

 Gull breeding in close proximity, without paying any attention 

 to one another, and particularly noted that whilst Ravens and 

 Crows, when they flew over the breeding-loch of the former 

 species, were pursued and driven away by the bird on duty, 

 or by the pair of them, Gulls of any kind were not interfered 

 with when they did so — as was far more frequently the case. 

 True it is that there was never anything in their conduct, on 

 these occasions, that had a suspicious appearance, which could, 



