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ANATID.E. 
1 
of the statement, and the breeding of the Long-tailed Duck in 
Shetland is probably a rare occurrence.” 
For some weeks after the Long-tailed Ducks have arrived 
they avoid approaching the shore except early in the morn- 
ing, when an early riser who knows their feeding-grounds may 
often succeed in procuring one or more, provided he take 
sufficient care to conceal himself. As winter approaches, they 
seem more inclined to follow up the deep voes and inlets ; but 
by that time they have become very shy, there being at least 
one gunner in almost every favourite haunt of theirs, who 
contrives in a very few days to teach them thoroughly how to 
recognise their common enemy, both ashore and afloat. 
By the middle of April the numbers have become much 
thinned, but I have satisfied myself that those which linger on 
into ]\Iay are nearly all young birds, waiting to complete their 
full plumage, which is attained by the end of that month. 
The birds which depart earlier seem in no great hurry to reach 
home: nearly a week after they have left the coast, when the 
weather is calm, I have seen scattered pairs a couple of miles 
off the shore, sporting and chasing one another over the smooth 
surface, as if in complete forgetfulness of the duties before 
them. Sailors inform me that in the month of April they see 
them forty or fifty miles north of the nearest land, behaving 
in precisely the same manner, and add that the birds are 
‘"just playing their way home.” This state of matters, however, 
can scarcely be supposed to last very long, for, good divers 
though they undoubtedly are, they would wait long for their 
dinner if they had to catch it at the depth of eighty or ninety 
fathoms, even if they knew the exact whereabouts of the 
fishing banks. This species seems to pay but little heed to 
the weather, but the number in the voes nearly always under- 
goes an increase when a heavy sea prevails outside, preventing 
them from feeding close to the rocks. When at such times 
the wind is sufficiently heavy to render also their feeding 
grounds within the voes unsafe or inconvenient, they appear 
completely nonplussed, sitting in groups upon the tossing 
