punt and losing our gear. The bird look little notice of our mishap, and might easily hare 1 n
secured had the wind and weather only been favourable. On the Tain sands, on the opposite side of the
Dornoch Firth, I also noticed one in the same state of plumage, hut failed to obtain a shot, owing to
the state of the tide. At none of the brecding-station* visited in May and June was I able to detect a
single bird exhibiting the white feathers on tho neck to any extent, and in all probability this conspicuous
colouring is discarded before the nesting-time Repeated observations also ltd me to belters that it Is only
the oldest birds that assume this state of plumage. The most perfectly marked white-necked specimen that
has come under my notice was in the Inn at Garve, on the road between Diugwall and Qailiooh, and I
learned that the bird bad been shut on the freshwater loch near at hand.
Though it has been asserted that the flush of Cormorants is useless ns an article of food, these
birds, while in the immature state, are by no means unpalatable when served up by those well used to
their work. One spring, while stopping at Canty Ray, I happened to enter the kitchen of the inn
when Adams the landlord, who also rented I be Bass, was at dinner, and at his request I sat down
and was helped to (what he was pleased to term) a plate of hare-soup. It was undeniable that the
soup was excellent, but it is doubtful if it would have been approved of had I been aware of the fact
that it was made from certain portions of two Cormorants and a Shag shot near the Buss a few days
previously. I remarked, while living ot North Berwick and Canty Hay, that though using the Buss as a
roost ing-station in great numbers during autumn, winter, and early spring, no Cormorants ever bred
upon the rock. Some of the old fishermen, who had looked after the birds for over fifty years, also
informed me that, to tho best or their knowledge, not a nest had ever been built by this specie* on
the Bass.
Cormorants are well known to select singular situations on which to alight; a bird has now and
then been seen on the spire or the highest church at Yarmouth, and also more than once on a brewerychimney
in another part or the town. On the 10th of September, USB, I Watched an immature bird,
after several failures, obtain a fooling on the tail of the gilt cock on the summit of the town-hall at
Tain, in Ross-shire; here it remained, balancing itself in an uneasy manner with no little difficulty, till
fired at from tho High Street, when it at once made a straight course for the Firth. While gunning
on the north-east coast of Scotland in March IMS, a Cormorant mado an attempt to settle on our
punt ns we dropped quietly with the ebb-tide dowu a channel in a muddy harbour, just as daylight was
closing in.
The nests of Cormorants arc placed, ns previously stated, on ledges in the face of lofty cliffs and
also on low rocky islets at but a slight elevation above high-water mark; in two or three localities
these birds also resort to the islands on inland lochs, constructing their nests on the open ground.
Some twenty years ago they often built in trees on both the north and south shores of tho Dornoch Fir Hi
(Scotch IBB, I believe, in every instance) I but on making inquiries a few months hack as to the numbers that
now frequented the spot, I learned that no birds bail been seen in the district for some time. The nests I
closely examined at the Fern Islands were large and roughly constructed, comp >sed for the most part or
weather-beaten branches of trees aud dead slicks, the greater portion of the materials having evidently been
picked up at sen, the bark 1 icing worn off from long immersion in the waves or washing along the shun-.
The stalks of the largest laugh' were also intertwined, apparently with tho view or hulding the structure
together, the lining being invariably composed of various kinds of the smaller seaweeds, with now and then
a few tufts of rough grass.
SHAG.
PHALACROCORAX ORÁCULOS.
FHOM personal observation I can say but little ns tu the distribution of the Shag over the British Islands ; it
has come under my notice only- on the north-east coast of England, ill the Firth of Forth, ami around the
northern and western coasts of the Highlands. Unlike Cormorants, these birds do not appear to make their
way inland; I never nhsrrved even a single individual on any of the Scotch lochs, the Xorfolk broads, or
the Sussex rivers, all id' which an' favourite resorts of fin' nearly .allied s| ie-.
While collecting specimen) near the North Point, in the west of lloss-shire, at the cud of May 18IÍS, I was
informed by the keepers that numbers of Cormorants bred in the caves and crevices of the rocks surrounding
the Black Hay, and also near the PLII Rae ; on reaching the spot, however, I soon ascertained that the whole were
Shags. The scenery on this part of the coast is wild and desolate in the extreme—the deep chasms aud rifts in
the cliffs, as well as the larger caves frequented by the Shags, being dark and gloomy, forming a most lifting
residence for these uncanny-looking birds. The nests aud their occupants were in many instances scarcely
visible iu the dim ligh.1 that penetrates lo I aesc recesses, the lhi»b of an eye or Ihe mm emeu I of a head usually
at tract ing attention to the presence of the inhabitants. Sei eral nests were placed at no great height in the caves,
and, standing on the shoulders of a couple of sturdy Highlanders, 1 was enabled to inspect Their contents, which
consisted of botli eggs and young, the latter for the most part newly hatched. The breeding-stations on the
Pinnacles at the Fern Islands appeared lobe almost deserted at the time of my last visit, in the summer of 1*07,
only a single pair being seen about the islands. Though formerly a favourite rr-.vt of these birds, the east
and west caves at the Bass Hock in the birth of Forth are hut, seldom tenanted by them at the present, day.
The nests I examined on tho west coast of Hoss-shire were built with large heather-stalks, together with a
quantity of smaller twigs, a few stems of ferns with those of other plants were al-o intermixed, a warm aud
closely interwoven cup-shaped lining of coarse strands of grass and rush forming the interior*. The cradles
constructed by this species are, as a rule, of far less bulk than those of the Cormorant ; the juveniles on breaking
the egg-shell are naked, black, shapeless monstrosities, covered in due course by a hairy down of dark grey,
almost approaching black. The immature in the first stage are arrayed in a light-breasted plumage after
the manner of Cormorants; having failed, however, to make satisfactory observations on cither species
bile kept in confinement, I am unable |o 1' u'm an opinion as to Ihe age at which the full adult plumage is
assumed, though doubtless it is not put on till the third or fourth year. The beauty of the plumage of an adult
can scarcely he judged by stuffed specimens or plates; the bird must be viewed immediately after death, or the
Wi'iidrous hues of bronze and green on the feathers of the hack, w hieli seldom retain their natural gloss for
any length of time, can never be seen to perfection.
• I raft* to Hie rmnpot.ilii.li of time firsts lllllkll minul.ly nt llir young ore depicted in OaaU'l ' Birds of Orcat Ilrit.iin,- the most
bountifully illnslrnliii work tluil I hive oyer ml, on a few slramla of preen seaweed and moss Ijing on in [ipwrd rock a few fctt above the level
of the sen. The ¡.1 ite, liouiver. guvs by far I lit' !>t-M re prise lire: un oí (hi .1] ¡ lurj an.I y .11:11: In- t-.\ 11 in any uru ilL'.l^i til lu Juration, and but