J. M. Boyd - The Hebrides

Fig. 1 Map of the Hebrides

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

WilliamCollinsBooks.com

This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2019

First published 1990

Copyright © J. M. and I. L. Boyd, 1990

J. M. and I. L. Boyd assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication .

Source ISBN 9780007308514

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2019 ISBN: 9780007406630

Version: 2019–02–26

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[Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9780007308514]

Editors

Sarah A. Corbet

Max Walters, ScD, VMH

Professor Richard West, ScD, FRS

David Streeter, FIBiol

Photographic Editor

Eric Hosking, OBE, Hon FRPS, FBIPP

TO WINIFRED

wife, mother and grandmother

Cover

Map

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

Foreword by HRH Prince Philip The Duke of Edinburgh

Editor’s Preface

Preface by J. Morton Boyd

Prologue

Islands in Natural History

Island Races

Grand Relationships

Islands for Science

Part I: The Ecosystem of the Hebrides

1.Geology

Geological Framework

Pre-cambrian and Palaeozoic Rocks

Mesozoic Rocks

Tertiary Rocks

Quaternary Features

2.Climate and Hydrography

Climate

The Weather System

Ecological Effects

Humidity and Temperature

Soil Climate

Rainfall and Sunshine

Wind

Climate in the Past

Hydrography

3.Soils

Glacial Till with Brown Forest Soils

Morainic Drift with Peat and Gleys

Outwash Fans and Raised Beaches

Colluvium and Shallow Drifts with Podzols

Aeolian Sand with Regosols

Montane Detritus

4.Life in the Sea

Fish

Benthos

Plankton

Marine Mammals

Turtles

5.The Sea Shore

The Vivid Frontier

Upper Shore

Middle Shore

Lower Shore

Shore Birds and Otters

6.Sand Dunes and Machair

Windblown Sands

Upper Beach and Foredunes

Dunes

Dry Machair

Wet Machair

7.Crofts and Farms

Inbye and Blackland

Patterns of Landuse

Agricultural Habitats

Corncrakes and Corn Buntings

Corncrake

Corn Bunting and Others

8.Woodlands

Tree-growth in the Islands

Native Woodland

Plantations

Woodland Fauna

9.Moor and Hill

Moorland Habitats

Lowland Heath

Bogs and Mires

Blanket and Raised Mires

Valley Bogs

Montane Communities

10.Inland Waters

Physical and Chemical Conditions

Freshwater Vegetation

Brackish Waters

Moorland Waters

Machair Waters

Rivers and Streams

Fish

Reptiles and Amphibians

Waterfowl

Mammals

Part II: Studies of Islands and Species

11.The Seabird Islands

The Islands

St Kilda

The Shiants

North Rona and Sula Sgeir

Mingulay and Berneray

Small Isles

Treshnish Isles and others

Handa

The Species

Fulmar

Manx Shearwater

Small Petrels

Gannet

Cormorant and Shag

Skuas

Gulls

Terns

Auks

12.The Seal Islands

Seals and the Hebrideans

Size and Distribution of the Grey Seal Population

The Breeding Cycle of the Grey Seal

Conservation and management of the Grey Seal

Common Seal

13.The Wildfowl Islands

Islay

Barnacle Goose

Greenland White-fronted Goose

Greylag Goose

Tiree, Gunna and Coll

Uists and Benbecula

Swans

Ducks

14.The Machair Islands

Tiree and the Uists

The Monach Isles

Machair—a Natural Heritage

15.Rum—an Island Nature Reserve

The Volcano

The Forest

Red Deer

Sea Eagles

16.St Kilda—Island of World Heritage

The St Kildans

Rock of Ages

Home of the West Wind

Seabirds of St Kilda

Wrens and Mice

Feral sheep—Soays and Blackfaces

Part III: Islands and People

17.Naturalists and Historians

16th and 17th Centuries

18th and 19th Centuries

First Half of the 20th Century

Second Half of the 20th Century

18.Land Use—Tryst of Man and Nature

Land Use History

Agricultural Improvement

Forestry

Minerals

Ores

Silica

Aggregates, Slates and Block Stone

19.Fisheries and Fish Farming

Fishery History

Demersal and Pelagic Fish

Shellfish

Fish Farming

20.Nature Conservation

Biological Sites

Coastal

Uplands

Woodland

Inland Waters

Peatland and Bogs

Geological Sites

Lewisian, Torridonian, Moine

Mesozoic

Tertiary

Marine Conservation

Nature Reserves

Protected Species

Picture Section

Epilogue

Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgements

About the Publisher

WINDSOR CASTLE

It might be said that enthusiasm is the mother of creation. There is no doubt at all about the enthusiasm of the Boyd family for the Hebrides, and it shows in every line of this splendid book that they have created. Having sailed and cruised in Hebridean waters for many years and having acquired an interest in birds, I can quite understand the fascination of that very beautiful part of the world for those with a consuming passion for natural history.