Curlew, or Whaup (Numenius arquata).—Common, and breeds in abundance. It nests on moorlands, and is found on or near the sea-shore all the rest of the year. Its peculiar whistle is well known, and sounds very weird, especially when heard inland on a summer evening.
Whimbrel (Numenius phæopus).—This bird, resembling a small curlew, used to be numerous in Gairloch, but, though still noticed, is becoming rarer every year. It is a migrant. Mr O. H. Mackenzie saw four or five whimbrels below the Inverewe garden in the first week of June 1886.
Arctic Tern (Sterna macrura).—This tern, which closely resembles the common tern, is abundant in Gairloch in summer. It nests on small islands in the sea, or in fresh-water lochs near the sea. The common tern has not been identified in Gairloch.
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus).—This gull is not uncommon in Gairloch, and has several nesting-places on small islands in fresh-water lochs. Some specimens have the black on the head of so dull a colour, and extending so little beyond the forehead, as to closely resemble the gull figured in the books as the masked gull. The black-headed gull entirely loses the black colour on the head during winter. Sometimes the breast of the bird is of a lovely rosy pink colour, which fades after death.
Common, or Winter Gull (Larus canus).—The common gull is not nearly so common in Gairloch as the black-headed gull. It has several nesting-places on small islands in fresh-water lochs, and it sometimes lays its eggs on the neighbouring mainland.
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus).—A few pairs of herring gulls nest along with the lesser black-backed gulls on the islands of Loch Maree. It nests also on Foura, and I think in some other places in the parish of Gairloch. Numbers breed in the Shiant Isles, and a good many visit the Gairloch shores during autumn and winter.
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus).—This voracious bird breeds in thousands on the islands of Loch Maree, and seems to be increasing in numbers. The nest is beautifully formed of moss. The eggs, which are generally three in number, but sometimes only two, and occasionally as many as four in number, are much sought after by the natives and others as articles of food; but Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, to whom the islands belong, has endeavoured to check the depredations. This bird, though called "lesser," is larger than any of the other gulls, except the herring gull and the great black-backed gull. The young are grey until they reach maturity, which is not until their second winter. Both the species of black-backed gulls destroy many eggs of game birds.
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus).—This noble but predacious bird is frequently seen in Gairloch. It does not associate with other birds, or even with other pairs of its own species. A few pairs nest on islands on Loch Maree and other fresh-water lochs, and I believe it occasionally nests also on stacks in the sea close to the mainland. It is commonly charged, as is also its lesser congener, with being guilty, like the raven, of killing sheep and lambs, beginning the process of murder by blinding its victims.
Glaucous Gull (Larus glaucus).—Mr O. H. Mackenzie has occasionally observed this gull in the parish of Gairloch.