844 
BIRD-LIFE. 
even covering with old boards or a few branches sncli 
suitable cavities as he may find amongst the clefts in 
the rocks,—thus inviting these birds to breed. 
Now the shore seems to teem with life. The females, 
preoccupied with the duties of progeneration, forget their 
inborn timidity, approaching man in all confidence, as 
though seeking his protection and desirous of becoming 
semi-domesticated. Unconcernedly they build their nests 
in the most convenient places, rarely uncovered, amongst 
the seaweed and large stones of the coast, but more 
often, and by preference, amongst the juniper-bushes, 
which are plentiful on these islands ; also not unfrequently 
in the interior of the house and court of their protector: 
this last not only leaves them in peace, but takes the 
greatest precautions, and is, in fact, anxious, that they 
should not in any way be disturbed. The law protects 
these breeding islands from cockney sportsmen and other 
human disturbers of the peace, whilst the proprietor 
himself only carries a gun with a view of knocking over 
some rascally old Eaven or greedy Skua, thus protecting 
his guests. 
In many places the Eider Ducks are so importunate as 
to become a perfect nuisance to the owner of the house: 
one pair breeds under an up-turned boat, another selects 
the oven, and a third bothers the life of the “ guid 
wife” in either parlour, stable, or kitchen. The nest, 
however, which the birds leave behind them, is sufficient 
reward for the inconvenience occasioned. It is composed 
of the softest and most valuable down, which the mother, 
in common with many other Ducks, plucks from her 
own breast to form into a lining, as well as a thick wall 
round the eggs. She then lays from four to eight, and 
sometimes even ten, eggs,—these are rather large, of a 
