The flock of eider ducks which keep us company through the winter increases daily, and now numbers over thirty. Swimming and diving amongst the breakers from daylight till dark, it is astonishing how they escape being smashed on the bare rocks. The receding wave may leave them almost stranded, and just as the incoming breaker is about to engulf them, they pop through its base and come up on the other side in a smother of foam. They are sometimes quite close to the tower, and then we have an interesting view of their proceedings. The diving of one is generally the signal for the remainder to follow, and the whole flock may be clearly seen, a couple of fathoms down, scurrying over the rocks in eager quest of the different dainties on their menu, consisting chiefly of small crabs. The capture of one of these crabs by no means ensures that it will ultimately contribute to the duck’s sustenance--this is not intended as a reflection on their digestive power, which appears equal to anything short of nails, considering the quantity of hard-shelled crabs they assimilate during a day’s fishing--for, on gaining the surface with his prize, he may be immediately assailed by the marauding gulls and compelled to dive with his prey. This may be repeated several times, until he reluctantly surrenders the succulent tit-bit, or is compelled to swallow it under water--a proceeding they are evidently averse to, otherwise the gulls would fare but poorly in their nefarious calling. The uncertainty of the crab’s final lodgment is again demonstrated in the case of the successful “blackmailer.” Hastily swallowing his booty to avoid being plundered in turn by his fellows, he is again on watch for the reappearance of his unwilling providers. But retribution occasionally overtakes the despoiler as it does his human prototype, with the difference that in default of imprisonment, he is mulcted in the contents of his stomach, the nemesis in this case being the dusky-coated skua or robber gull, who with his hawk-like flight easily heads him at every turn, and the chase terminates only when the contents of the stomach are disgorged, or the excrement voided, either of which is adroitly caught by this foul freebooter of the sea before it reaches the water.