Gairloch In North-West Ross-Shire Part 35

ICELAND GULL (_Larus leucopterus_).--This pale-coloured gull is occasionally seen in the parish. I have identified a specimen shot by Mr John Matheson.

KITTIWAKE (_Rissa tridactyla_).--This graceful gull is common on our coasts. It breeds in great numbers at the Shiant Isles, on ledges of high rocks above the sea. On my visit to these islands a shot was fired, when a vast crowd of birds filled the air, and there were innumerable cries of "kittiwake, kittiwake," p.r.o.nounced as distinctly as if spoken by the human voice.

GREAT SKUA (_Stercorarius catarrhactes_).--The great, or common skua is rarely seen in Gairloch, but may be occasionally observed attending on parties of gulls, whom it robs of the fish they catch.

ARCTIC, or RICHARDSON'S SKUA (_Stercorarius crepidatus_).--This skua occasionally occurs in Gairloch, but is not abundant. One stormy day in late autumn I observed several about the head of Loch Ewe.

MANX SHEARWATER (_Puffinus anglorum_).--Mr O. H. Mackenzie has occasionally seen this bird on Gairloch waters.

STORM PETREL (_Procellaria pelagica_).--This tiny sea bird, which makes its home on the ocean waves, is seldom seen in Gairloch. I have observed a small party at the mouth of Loch Ewe. They used to breed on the islands of Longa and Foura, at the extremities of long burrows in gra.s.sy slopes, and probably do so still. A specimen was recently brought to me which had been found dead on the roadside between Gairloch and Poolewe.

It was in stormy weather.

RAZOR-BILL, or AUK (_Alca torda_).--This bird is seen in Gairloch and Loch Ewe often along with the guillemots and puffins, and I think it is more abundant than either. It nests in the Shiant Isles, and, like the common guillemot, lays its single egg on ledges on the face of cliffs.

Mr Harvie Brown saw a very few pairs in a crevice on the east sh.o.r.e of Priest Island, on 4th July 1884.

GUILLEMOT (_Uria troile_).--This sea bird frequents the coast of Gairloch. It has no breeding station within the parish. The nearest is at the Shiant Isles, twenty miles away, where a large number of guillemots deposit their single eggs, all of exquisite colouring and marking, but no two the same, on ledges in the face of a high cliff.

RINGED GUILLEMOT (_Uria lachrymans_).--It is now settled that this is a dimorphic form of the guillemot, and not a different species. I have obtained mature specimens with the ring or bridle only partially developed, and there is no doubt it is a marking which occasionally occurs in the common guillemot, and is not distinctive.

BLACK GUILLEMOT (_Uria grylle_).--This beautiful bird is common, and has many nesting-places in Gairloch, on rocky islands in the sea, and sometimes on rocks on the mainland overhanging the sea. In winter the plumage of the black guillemot changes to a speckled grey colour. Mr Harvie Brown says that he has in his collection male specimens in speckled plumage taken off the eggs in the Badcall islands. Neither Mr O. H. Mackenzie nor I have noticed the speckled plumage in breeding birds. The young have the plumage yet more speckled than the mature winter dress.

ROTCHE, or LITTLE AUK (_Mergulus alle_).--The little auk is rarely seen, but is occasionally driven to the sh.o.r.es of Gairloch by storms. One was brought to me which had been found dead near the sh.o.r.e of Loch Ewe.

PUFFIN, or SEA-PARROT (_Fratercula arctica_).--This curious bird is common on the Gairloch coast at some seasons of the year. Like the guillemot it breeds abundantly on the Shiant Islands. The puffin lays its single egg at the extremity of a burrow formed on gra.s.sy banks sloping towards the sea. The egg which, when laid, resembles an ordinary hen's egg, soon becomes more or less of a dirty brown colour.

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER (_Colymbus glacialis_).--This largest of our divers is common on these coasts. There are always some on the Gairloch and on Loch Ewe, except perhaps in July and August. I once saw one near the Fox Point on Loch Maree, but not in the breeding season. It remains in our waters until the beginning of June, and then goes north to breed. It has now no authenticated nesting-place in the British Isles. Mr O. H.

Mackenzie has an egg which he had taken for him in one of the Shetland Isles many years ago,--probably the last British specimen. Dr Saxby, author of "Birds of Shetland," obtained the egg for Mr Mackenzie. It is very much larger than the egg of the black-throated diver. Mr Mackenzie had often heard of the nesting-place in Shetland from Dr Saxby's brother.

BLACK-THROATED DIVER (_Colymbus arcticus_).--It breeds on a number of fresh-water lochs in Gairloch. The nests are usually on islands, but I have seen one on the mainland. This diver is seldom, if ever, observed in Gairloch, except during the breeding season.

RED-THROATED DIVER (_Colymbus septentrionalis_).--This diver is not so common here as the black-throated diver. I know two nesting-places in Gairloch. Mr John Munro has known four pairs nesting in the same locality. The red-throated diver is more frequently seen on the wing than the other species, and when flying frequently utters a loud wailing cry, which is said to prognosticate rain. A specimen was brought to me which had been caught in a herring-net.

SCLAVONIAN GREBE (_Podiceps auritus_).--This grebe is often seen in winter. A pair of grebes has for many years nested annually on a fresh-water loch in Gairloch parish; in some years there have been two pairs on the same loch; and sometimes another pair has nested on a loch about two miles away. Mr E. T. Booth saw the grebes on the former loch in 1868; he was unable to decide the species at the time, but in a letter he wrote to me on 2nd March 1885, he said that "from the last description of the bird that he received he came to the conclusion that it was a Sclavonian." Mr H. E. Dresser saw one old and one young grebe on the same loch on 30th June 1886. He could not get a distinct view of the bird, but he was satisfied it was either the Sclavonian or the eared grebe. Mr John Munro, who has annually seen and scrutinised the birds during the past twenty-one years, and has compared his impressions of them with the pictures of the several species of grebe from Mr Dresser's "Birds of Europe" and other works, believes that these birds nesting in Gairloch are Sclavonian grebes; indeed there can be no reasonable doubt that they are so. Mr Booth has called the birds in question Sclavonians in his "Rough Notes." I believe this is the only recorded instance of the Sclavonian grebe nesting in the British Isles.

DABCHICK, or LITTLE GREBE (_Podiceps fluviatilis_).--It is common here as everywhere.

CORMORANT (_Phalacrocorax carbo_).--The great cormorant is not very common in Gairloch, but I have known one or two pairs nest in the parish, on rocks overhanging or surrounded by the sea. Mr Harvie Brown found it abundant on Priest Island on 4th July 1884. He saw there a colony of about a hundred pairs. It is commonly seen on fresh-water rivers and lochs, where it engages in fishing. I have often observed it fishing within a few yards of the garden at Inveran.

GREEN CORMORANT, or SKART, or s.h.a.g (_Phalacrocorax graculus_).--The common s.h.a.g is abundant on Gairloch and Loch Ewe. It nests on high rocks on islands in the sea. It is never seen on fresh-water.

GANNET, or SOLAN GOOSE (_Sula ba.s.sana_).--This singular bird is often observed fishing, after its peculiar manner, in Gairloch and Loch Ewe.

It flies, or rather dashes, rapidly to and fro, and when it sees a fish in the sea, darts or falls so suddenly down upon it, that one almost fears the concussion with the water must injure the bird. Its nearest breeding station is at St Kilda.

HERON (_Ardea cinerea_).--The heron abounds in Gairloch. There are three heronries, which are strictly preserved. A number of herons frequently roost in autumn and winter in the fir wood on the River Ewe, along with the rooks.

GREY-LAG GOOSE (_Anser cinereus_).--This wild goose, which seems to have been the origin of the domestic goose, resembles it more closely than any other species of wild goose. It is common in Gairloch, but not so abundant as formerly. It does not attain maturity until its second winter. It nests on small islands in fresh-water lochs. Farmers destroy the eggs whenever they can get to the nests, on account of the injury the wild geese do to the crops. This is no doubt the cause of the diminution in their numbers. A smaller species of wild goose has been occasionally noticed by Mr John Munro consorting with the grey-lag goose, but it has not been identified. The grey-lag goose becomes very tame if brought up in captivity.

BRENT GOOSE (_Bernicla brenta_).--Rarely seen here. Mr O. H. Mackenzie has shot two on a gra.s.s field at Tournaig, close to the edge of Loch Ewe.

WHOOPER, or WILD SWAN (_Cygnus musicus_).--Occasionally visits Gairloch in winter. It is sometimes on the sea, but appears to be particularly fond of Loch Maree. On Sunday, 30th January 1881, I saw six of these splendid birds, all in mature white plumage, pluming themselves on the beach within a hundred yards of the house at Inveran. That was an exceptionally severe winter. Mr O. H. Mackenzie broke the tip of the wing of one on Loch Ewe with a bullet, and sent the bird to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, where it still (1886) lives.

BEWICK'S SWAN (_Cygnus Bewicki_).--This lesser wild swan also visits Gairloch occasionally in winter.

SHELD-DUCK, or SHIELDRAKE (_Tadorna cornuta_).--This magnificent duck, though very abundant in the Hebrides (and there called "Cradh gheadh"), is rarely seen in Gairloch. I obtained a specimen on the River Ewe, at the foot of the garden at Inveran, on 25th November 1880, in stormy weather. Although when first observed this bird had been seen to fly, it was found on examination to have had the quill feathers of both wings clipped. It was probably one of the semi-domesticated specimens so commonly kept along with poultry in North Uist. The bird was a drake in full plumage, and was in company with my tame ducks. It is in the collection at Inveran. Mr O. H. Mackenzie saw one for several days together on the sh.o.r.e at Inverewe some winters ago. It was very wild and unapproachable.

MALLARD, or WILD-DUCK (_Anas boscas_).--The wild-duck is abundant, and breeds on islands and on moors near water.

PINTAIL (_Dafila acuta_).--This bird is rare. Mr O. H. Mackenzie shot one at Inveran more than twenty years ago.

TEAL (_Querquedula crecca_).--This beautiful little duck is plentiful, and breeds in Gairloch.

WIGEON (_Mareca penelope_).--The common wigeon is rather rare here, but is occasionally seen, especially in winter. It sometimes nests. I obtained a specimen near Inveran on 19th January 1881.

POCHARD (_Fuligula ferina_).--The dun bird is often seen on Gairloch waters, and occasionally breeds with us.

SCAUP (_Fuligula marila_).--The scaup is not uncommon. I have a pair in my collection which were shot on Loch nan Dailthean, in June 1883, by Mr John Matheson. I saw several on the river Ewe in the winter and spring of 1885; they were sometimes close to the garden at Inveran. The drake when swimming appears to be snow-white on its back. I see one of them as I sit in my study writing these notes. The scaup does not nest in Gairloch.

TUFTED DUCK (_Fuligula cristata_).--It is not often seen, but I observed a few pairs on the River Ewe, at the end of the Inveran garden, in the hard weather of January 1881, and shot one for identification on 27th January 1881.

GOLDEN EYE (_Clangula glaucion_).--Common; its nest has not been found in Gairloch, but pairs have been seen on fresh-water lochs in the breeding season, and Mr John Munro has seen the young with the old birds, so there is no doubt this duck breeds within the parish.

LONG-TAILED DUCK (_Harelda glacialis_).--This sea duck was formerly very common on this coast, but is now rarely seen. Mr Percy Dixon procured a young immature one in the summer of 1883 on the River Ewe. It had evidently been injured.

EIDER-DUCK (_Somateria molissima_).--This large duck is very rarely seen in Gairloch, although it is so abundant in the Hebrides. A female was killed at Shieldaig in 1884.

COMMON SCOTER (_demia nigra_).--This sea bird is rare. Mr O. H.

Mackenzie has observed it on the Gairloch coast. Mr E. T. Booth, in his "Rough Notes," speaks of scoters breeding in North-West Ross-shire. They certainly do not nest in Gairloch, nor, as far as I can learn, in any of the adjoining parishes.

GOOSANDER (_Mergus merganser_).--The goosander is tolerably abundant here. I have seen several of its nests in Gairloch parish, and so has Mr O. H. Mackenzie. Mr Harvie Brown noted a pair on the Meikle Gruinard River both in 1883 and 1884.

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER (_Mergus serrator_).--The merganser is very common on almost all Gairloch waters, and many of them breed in the parish. I have no doubt it destroys great quant.i.ties of the ova and fry of both salmon and trout. It nests on banks, or in holes, or under heather or juniper bushes on islands, or on the mainland near water.

SMEW (_Mergus albellus_).--I have not observed the smew duck on Gairloch or Loch Ewe, but I have seen it in numbers at the mouth of the Meikle Gruinard River, which is little more than a mile beyond the northern limit of the parish of Gairloch. I think therefore it is a Gairloch bird.

Chapter VII.

FLOWERING PLANTS OF GAIRLOCH.

It is matter of regret that no adequate herbarium has been prepared for Gairloch. With the aid of Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch, Mrs Fowler of Inverbroom, Mr O. H. Mackenzie, Mr A. Davidson, and other helpers, a list has been compiled, and is appended to these notes. It is imperfect, but we hope that it may lead to a more accurate and complete account of the flora of the parish.

Visitors to Gairloch are invited to add to our list, and any botanical information they may be willing to impart will be received with thanks.

But they are appealed to to abstain (when searching for plants) from anything like a trespa.s.s or an infringement of the privileges of others.

Thoughtlessness on the part of a few, may bring discredit on botanists generally.