372 Ornithological Observations and Reflections in Shetland. 
retreat into the cave or fly away. This caution may have been 
developed through fear of rapacious birds, once more numerous 
than they are now, though even now they are a force to be 
reckoned with, for I found, this afternoon, on the hill side, 
not far from a cave, the complete pluckings of a Rock Dove — 
no trace of the body to be seen. This may have been the work 
of a Peregrine. This generalising, however, it should be said, 
is only on the strength of a few observations. 
Shags bathe now, but not often, and very differently from 
the way they do in the spring — with much less violent actions 
that is to say. This supports my view of the bathing, in this 
species, having become a sort of sexual antic or display. 
Oct. 6th. — I have spoken of the Shag’s habit of constantly 
dipping its head whilst swimming. I have since noticed how 
the neck of one that I was looking down upon, almost perpen- 
dicularly, was stretched out straight in front of it under the 
water, and to-day, again, I have had a good example of the 
dipped head being quietly converted into a complete dive by 
one of these birds, without the usual leap or any other special 
action. It seems pretty plain that the bird’s object in thus sink- 
ing its head is to see under water, and that when this is followed 
by total submersion, it means that the fish has been sighted. 
Yet it is not all so plain as it might appear off-hand, for when 
these birds are undoubtedly fishing, they do not act in this 
way — or at any rate not habitually — but time after time, 
make the ordinary leap under, from the ordinary floating 
attitude. As to this, however, it may be said that a bird 
when really hungry and definitely ‘ on the job,’ would not 
waste time in thus, as it were, feeling, or rather seeing its way 
before it. 
Like the Eider Duck, the Shag is often to be seen swimming 
in very troubled water, moving lightly amidst swirl and foam, 
cresting ‘ the curled wave ’ and only diving as one breaks in 
fury about him. He can live where no boat can, since sinking, 
the perdition of the boat, is his constant security. Yet some- 
times accidents happen, and a certain percentage of these 
may be fatal ones. Only to-day I witnessed an example, 
though not of the latter kind, when a bird, seeking to land upon 
the rock, was caught almost in the act by a rather boisterous 
wave which flung it back upon the water, and then up again in 
a game of pitch and toss. From this it escaped in a somewhat 
dishevelled condition, nor was it till a moment or two had 
elapsed that it was able to dive and thus save the situation. 
Had the sea been higher at the time, this Shag might have had 
its life battered out of it, perhaps upon its own nesting rock. 
It is more probable, however, that if it had been really high, 
it would not have attempted to land from the sea, but have 
flown in after the more usual way. These Shags, now, are quite 
Naturalist, 
