Volume 9 - Electric Scotland

1
Mr. Evans would put the number still higher, 120 birds, or sixty pairs ;
THE GREAT SHEARWATER IN SCOTTISH WATERS 143
ship, and as they rose on our approach it was plain that
they were Shearwaters of more than the common size. I
at once called to Mr. Evans, and he, with his glass immediately
upon them, agreed with me. Hardly had we
recovered from our surprise at the apparition before another
pair presented themselves in like manner, and then another,
and yet more. Nearly all were in pairs, dotted about the
sea, and few took the trouble to rise from the surface unless
we were very close to them. Fewer still were flying about
of their own accord. If I remember right, a Manx Shearwater
occasionally showed itself, and one was able to
compare the two. Though the larger species seemed to
have a heavier flight, there was little difference in that
respect ; but in size and colour the two could not be confounded,
and we could tell the one from the other nearly a
mile off. The dingy blackish-brown of the larger bird's back,
mottled when seen very near with smoke-colour, and the
whitish upper tail-coverts, contrasted with the deep black of
the same parts of the smaller bird, while the pure white of
the latter's lower surface gleamed in comparison with the
duller or even clouded look of the former's. Though I had
never before seen the species alive, I felt certain that we had
before us what was long known as Puffinus major. The
notes I made at the time have unfortunately been lost, but
to the best of my recollection we must have seen at least
thirty or even forty pairs, nearly each pair sitting lovingly
together. 1 This went on until we were within a few miles
of North Rona, after which we saw no more of them. Two
days later Mr. Hugh Popham
fell in with these birds further
to the northward, but of that presently.
On the 24th of June 1895 I na cl again the pleasure of
finding myself on Mr. Evans's yacht. Leaving Castle Bay
in the morning, we rounded Barra Head, and our course was
laid for St. Kilda. Again the sea was smooth, but a mist
hung on the water. We had not got far away from the land
when we met with some of our friends of the year before,
sitting on the sea in pairs and acting exactly as they did on
the former occasion. They seemed, however, to be more
and I have no desire to contest his estimate.