BIUDS. 
179 
" The Maiden's Eocks," and on the bold cone of the head- 
land itself, at a height of about 350 feet. At that distance, 
with binoculars, the white thigh-spots were quite distinctly 
visible. A man scaled the face one day and brought down 
a shawlful of eggs. Rare on Handa, choosing the highest 
ledges, just under the summits of the perpendicular cliffs. 
A local name for this bird in Caithness is the " Palmer Scarf." 
It is an abundant and indigenous sj)ecies in the county. 
It breeds on high and exposed ledges of rock, and here the 
number of eggs never exceeds three, according to Mr. 
Osborne's observations (0. MSS., 1868). 
Mr. Shearer mentions in a note to the Field, of date 
May 17, 1862, that this bird collects the materials for its 
nest almost, if not entirely, from fresh-water lochs in the 
interior, taking large bunches, sometimes half the size of its 
body, but he does not say of what the materials consist. 
Harvie-Brown's experience of this species in 1885 is 
that it is far from being abundant, i.e. not for a moment 
to compare with many west coast districts, nor Whiten Head, 
on the Sutherlandshire north coast, but a considerable 
number are to be found breeding on the high ledges of the 
Dimnet promontory. 
i88. Phalacrocorax graculus {L.). Shag. 
Common, and resident all round the coasts, not venturing far 
inland ; does not breed on the east coast, but does so 
abundantly in the caves on the north, and in all suitable 
localities there. It is rarely found in large colonies, pro- 
bably owing to the scarcity of ledges of the requisite nature, 
which, to suit these birds, should overhang deep water. 
Caithness name — "Scarf." A common and resident species, 
never, like the cormorant, resorting to inland localities. 
In Caithness the shag invariably selects either the sides, 
top, entrance, or extreme end of some gloomy cave or 
