XX.-Half-a-Day on Tentsmuir. BY WM. WHYTE. (Read 11th April, 1907.) On June the 6th of last year the members of the P.S.N.S. who are interested in ornithology paid a visit to Tentsmuir, famous as the breeding-place of the Terns. The day being fine, the party, to the number of 17, entrained at Perth General Station at 9.30, and after the usual wait at Ladybank, arrived at the quaint old-world village of Leuchars about mid-day. Proceeding through the village, we reached the Church, which presented features of architectural interest to some of the party, and were duly photographed. After about a mile's further walk we reached Earlshall, where we found Mr. Young, the gardener, waiting for us. Accepting Mr. Young's invitation, we proceeded to inspect the house and grounds. The building itself is a most interesting structure, and the present proprietor, Mr. Mackenzie, has restored it to what one might call its pristine glory, as everything about it is suggestive of a bygone age, when knights were bold and barons held their sway. It is beautifully situated, with a spacious park in front and lovely terraced lawns at the back, bordered by finely arranged flower-beds, the whole forming, as the property advertisements say, a most desirable residence and within easy distance of the sea. More photographing ensued, after which, accompanied by Mr. Young, we made tracks for the moor, and the real business of the day began. The moor itself is flat, and rather uninteresting from a scenic point of view, covered with short scrubby heather and greyish moss in some parts, and in others with coarse grass and heather of a more luxuriant growth; while along the beach runs a double row of sandhills, and beyond that stretches the broad blue waters of the Firth of Tay, shimmering and glinting in the brilliant sunshine, and the waves lap in lazy indolence on the golden sands. It is among the short coarse moss and among the sand dunes that the Terns breed, and to see them in the full flush of nesting-time formed the principal object of this excursion. The Terns rise from their nests whenever they see an intruder near their ground, as they know that their white plumage would, if they remained sitting, prove a sure guide to their nests. They therefore depend on the protective colouring of their eggs, and the almost entire absence of nest formation, to enable them to escape detection. We were unfortunately a week too early on this occasion, and did not find the colony full. In the previous year I spent two days on the moor, and found every nest full, but this year it was a week later. On that occasion there was a perfect cloud of birds wheeling and circling on graceful pinions high in the air, and emitting angry cries at this intrusion on their sacred domain. I am sorry to say that there seems but little protection afforded to the Terns on the moor, as, on walking over the same ground on the following day, I found nearly every nest empty, and the footmarks of three individuals in the sand plainly indicated the cause. We, however, found some typical nests, and had an opportunity of seeing the great variety of colouring which exists among the eggs of this species, and, in fact, among those of all birds that breed in colonies. There are, however, other inhabitants of the moor who deserve more than a passing notice. Chief among these are the Shell Duck and Eider Duck. The Shell Duck is one of the most beautifully marked species of the duck family, and is quite a feature of the moor in the nesting season. They always fly in pairs from the sea to their nest, and on approaching the rabbit's burrow, where the nest is always placed, the female drops suddenly to the ground and disappears in the burrow. Her mate meanwhile continues his flight and circles rapidly back to the beach. While watching a pair of these birds flying over the moor, I saw both of them drop to the ground, and after waiting some time, I took advantage of any shelter that the ground afforded to enable me to get as near as possible. Suddenly the ducks rose, and walking rapidly to the spot, I found a family of seven young Shell Ducks marching along the bottom of a deep dry ditch which runs right down to the beach. Pretty little creatures they were, with lovely marbled plumage, staring in wide-eyed wonder at the first human being they had ever seen. The Eider Duck is fairly common on this part of the moor, and we saw about six nests, with some of the young fully downed with that soft grey down which is such a valuable commercial asset. They nest, as a rule, among the long heather, and it takes a keen eye to discover the sitting bird, so closely does her plumage correspond with her surroundings. But there is generally a tell-tale tuft of down dangling from a spray of heather, which induces the searcher to make a close scrutiny of the surrounding ground, and he is rewarded by seeing the bird sitting watching his every movement. On one occasion she allowed me to stand over her before she rose, and then my olfactory organ was assailed by one of the most virulent smells it has ever been my lot to sample. It was simply overpowering, and I had to retire to a distance and allow the fresh breeze to clarify the nest before I could again approach it. The nest, like that of all the ducks, is downed as incubation proceeds, the mother plucking it from her breast, The rest of the bird tenants of the moor had by this time completed the hatching of their respective broods, and were anxiously watching lest we should come across some of their hidden treasures, which were lying low among the heather. That wary bird, the Golden Plover, was ever in evidence. Sitting on the top of a little hillock, he would give his plaintive whistling cry, and then as we approached would shift a little further on. The Dunlin, of which there were three or four pairs, pursued the same tactics, and, in fact, in a frontal view their plumage exactly resembles that of the Plover, although the bird is much smaller. Grouse do not appear to be at all plentiful on this part of the moor, as we only flushed one pair. The Wheatear is abundant among the rabbit holes, where they nest. The Ring Plovers are also numerous, and we saw a very pretty clutch of these eggs. I think that about sums up the birds that came under our notice, except the Gulls, which at low water may be seen in a long string along the water edge, with their shoulders humped up, as if they were working off a severe attack of indigestion. They do look most dejected specimens of the Avifauna. We have now covered the ground mapped out for the day, and reaching the shepherd's house, we find an excellent sunk well, and there, like a party of wandering Bedouins, at this little oasis in the desert we quench our thirst, which is great, and are again photographed. We now made tracks for the road, and after parting with Mr. Young, and thanking him warmly for his valuable assistance and for the kindly interest he had taken in the day's work, the party made for Leuchars and Perth, after a pleasant and successful day's outing. XXI.-Birds observed during Winter of 1906-7. |