11

Hi

A

SHOET TOUR IN SUTHERLAND

p

Searching for Wild-Fowl Eggs.

Vol. ii. Frontispiece.]

A TOUR IN
SUTHERLANDSHIBE

WITH

EXTRACTS FROM THE FIELD-BOOKS

OF

A SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST

By CHAELES ST. JOHN, Esq.

AUTHOR OF ' WILD SPORTS AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS '

SECOND EDITION

WITH AN APPENDIX ON THE FAUNA OF SUTHERLAND BY

J. A. HARVIE-BROWN, F.Z.S., ETC., AND

T. E. BUCKLEY, B.A., F.Z.S., ETC.

IN TWO VOLS.— VOL. II.

EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS

1884

Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh.

CONTENTS.

FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR— Continued.
CHAPTER XXI.

OCTOBER PART I.

Migration of Birds — Quails — Arrival of Wild-geese — White-
fronted Goose — Arrival of Wild-swans ; decrease of — Feast-
ings of our Ancestors — Food of Ducks, etc. — Field-mice —
Roe feeding — Hawks — Peregrine and Wild -duck — Train-
ing of Hawks — Migration of Eagles . . . Page 1
>

CHAPTER XXII.

OCTOBER PART II.

A SEA-SIDE WALK IN OCTOBER.

Beauty of a fine October morning — Departure and arrival of
Birds — A walk along tlie Coast — The Goosander — Golden-
eye and Morillon — Plovers — Widgeon; habits of in feed-
ing ; occasionally breed in Scotland — Sands of the Bay —
Flounders — Herons — Curlews, Peewits, etc. — Oyster-birds
— Mussel - scarps — Sea View — Long - tails — Mallards —
Velvet Ducks; mode of feeding — Rabbits and Foxes —
Formation of the Sandhills ; remains of antiquity
found in them — Seals — Salmon - fishers — Old Man catching
Flounders — Swans — Unauthorised Fox-chase — Black Game
—Roe 17

Vlll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXX.

Taming and Education of Wild Animals — The Eagle ; his want
of docility — Courage and Intelligence of the Noble Falcons
— The Hound — Return of Cats to their home' — Maternal
Instinct of Cats — The Carrier-pigeon — "Wood -pigeons —
Dovecot -pigeons — Sight of Pigeons — Blue-rock Pigeons —
Crested Titmouse — The Robin ; pugnacious disposition of
— Sparrows ; impudence of ... Page 153

CHAPTER XXXI.

Instinct of Birds — The "Woodcock carrying her young — Herons
— "Water-ousel — Nest of Golden-eye Duck — Habits of Birds
— Talons of Falcons and Hawks — Stuffed Birds — Plumage,
etc., of Owls — The Osprey and Sea Swallow — Manner of
Fishing — Carrion -feeding Birds — Manner of finding their
Food — The Eagle — Sense of Smell in Birds — in Ducks and
Geese — Power of communicating with each other — Notes of
Alarm — A few words respecting destroying Hawks, etc. —
Colour of Birds adapted to concealment — Instinct of Birds
finding Food — Red-deer — Tame Roebuck . . 164

SCOTCH STREAMS AND LAKES.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Rivers, Streams, and Lakes in Scotland — The Tweed — The Lakes
and Streams of Argyleshire — Loch Awe — A Contest with a
Salmo ferox — Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and Sutherland —
Pike not an injurious destroyer of Trout— Char — The River
Shin — Pertinacity of Salmon in ascending Streams — The
Beauly — The Findhorn — The Spey — The Dee — Decrease in
the number of Salmon ; its causes and its cure — Extent of
the trade of Fly-making .... 184

CONTENTS. ix

DOGS.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Learned Dog and Show -woman — Education of Sporting Dogs
— Hereditary Instinct of Dogs— Their thievish propensities
descend to their offspring — Bad-tempered Dogs— Breaking
of Dogs — Their jealousies — Their hunting alliances —
Attachment of a Dog to his Master — Dog-eating reprobated
— Bloodhounds — Skye Terriers — Dogs combining against a
common enemy — Old Dogs — Singular instance of sagacity
in one page 197

WINTER SKETCHES.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Grouse; Hardiness of — Difference of Climate in Morayshire
— Migratory habits of Partridges — Grubs, etc., destroyed by
Pheasants — Ptarmigan — Ptarmigan-shooting during Winter
— An Expedition to the Mountains — Early start — Tracks of
Otters — Otter-hunting — Stags — Herons— Golden -eyes—
Wild-cat— Mallards— Tracks of Deer— Gray Crows— Eagle-
Shepherd's hut— Braxy Mutton— Ascent of the Mountain-
Ptarmigan— Change in the weather — Dangerous situation
— Violent Snowstorm — Return home — Wild-duck shooting
— Flapper-shooting 216

HIGHLAND SHEEP.
CHAPTER XXXV.

Introduction of Sheep into the Highlands— Aversion of High-
landers to Sheep ; disliked by Deer also — Prophecy —
Activity of black -faced Sheep; instincts of— Mountain
Sheep in enclosures— The Plaid ; uses of ; various ways of
wearing; manufactures of; invisible colours— Shepherds-
Burning of Heather— Natural enemies of Sheep— Shepherds'
Dogs — Origin of Dogs 241

X CONTENTS.

I

GAME-DEALERS.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Poulterers' Shops — Supply of Game — Red-deer — Deer killed
in the Fields — Roe — Grouse and Black Game ; calling of —
Shooting Hares hy night — Pheasants — Advantages attending
the sale of Game by the fair Sportsman and the Landed Pro-
prietor— American Game — Wild -fowl in Shops — Bird-
dealers in Leadenhall Market — Norway Game — Manner of
collecting — Hybrids — introduction of new species of Game
into Britain — Prolific Birds — Sea-fowl ; their breeding-places
— Solan Geese — Migration of Fish . . . Page 257

FISHERIES.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Supply of Fish in Scotland — Herring - fishery — Highlanders
coming to Herring-fishing — Fishermen of East Coast — Dif-
ference of Language in Nairn — Departure of Herring-boats ;
dangers to which they are exposed — Loss of Boats and Lives
— Fishing in good weather — Loch fishing — Fishing Stations
on West Coast — Fishing for Haddocks, etc. — State of British
Sea-fisheries . 272

APPENDIX 289

LIST OF PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.

Searching for Wild-fowl Eggs
Entrance to Bay of Cromarty
Dead Stag and Eagles

Roebuck

Return from Shooting

Frontispiece.

To face page 17

77

117

185

SHORT TOUR IN SUTHERLAND.

FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR — CONTINUED.

CHAPTER XXI.

OCTOBER. PART I.

Migration of Birds — Quails — Arrival of Wild-geese — White-
fronted Goose — Arrival of Wild-swans ; decrease of — Feast-
ings of our Ancestors — Food of Ducks, etc. — Field-mice —
Roe feeding — Hawks — Peregrine and Wild-duck — Train-
ing of Hawks — Migration of Eagles.

October is, in this country, one of the finest months

of the whole year. The cold cutting winds of

November are frequently preceded by bright, clear,

sunshiny weather, most enjoyable and invigorating

to all whose avocations and amusements keep them

much in the open air. The birds, both migratory

and stationary, begin now to establish themselves

in their winter quarters ; and scarcely a clay passes

which is not marked by the arrival or departure, or

the winter preparations of some of the feathered

races in this country.

VOL. II. B

2 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

On the 4th of October, during the mild season of
1847, 1 found a pair of young wood-pigeons in a
nest near the house. A few days afterwards they
were both dead, either from the old birds having
been killed, or from the coldness of one or two of
the succeeding days. The latest landrail that I
killed was on the 6 th, and a fatter bird of any
description I never saw.

Three or four quails were killed at the beginning
of October in the eastern part of the county.
During the month of May I constantly heard the
call of the old birds close to my house ; and we saw
them several times basking in the sun on one of the
gravel walks.

On the 11th and 12th large flocks of wild-geese
passed to the south. There was at the time a con-
siderable sprinkling of snow on the Eoss-shire and
Sutherlandshire mountains. None of the gray or
bean-geese seemed to alight anywhere in this neigh-
bourhood during the autumn ; but a flock of that very
beautiful species the white-fronted goose took up
their quarters about the fresh- water lakes. Being
anxious to procure one of these birds, I went the
following day to look for them. It is a long, tedious
walk through the wild desolate country which
bounds the sandhills to the westward, and separates
them from the lochs and swamps which the swans

OCT. WHITE-FRONTED GEESE. 3

and geese frequent when in this region. After a
long search for the birds a sudden gleam of sunshine
showed us their yellow bills and white foreheads
conspicuously above the rough grass and herbage
of the swamp in which they were feeding. They
did not appear to have taken any alarm at us ; so
putting my self under the guidance of my old keeper,
who seemed to have a perfect knowledge of every
ditch and hollow of the ground by which an
approach could be made, I crawled and wormed
myself along to within sixty or seventy yards of
five of the birds. To get any nearer, unseen, was
impossible; raising my head, and trusting to Eley's
cartridges and No. 3 shot, I fired and killed a
brace of these very beautiful birds ; a third fell,
but rose again, and recovered himself.

The white-fronted geese remained in or near the
same district, with only occasional absences, during
the whole winter, and until the month of April ;
their habits in this respect being very unlike those
of the bean-geese, who in this region are never
stationary for above a few days. The white-fronted
goose is the handsomest species, both as to form
and plumage, that we ever see in Scotland. The
full-grown birds are distinctly and beautifully
marked with black bands on the breast, and have a
pure white spot on the front of their head. They

4 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

are of a compact, firm shape, and walk with great
activity and lightness while feeding. Unlike the
bean-goose, they frequently feed in pools and
swamps where some favourite plant grows ; and in
situations which the sportsman can easily approach,
sometimes close to furze or other cover. The other
kinds of geese never by any chance commit them-
selves in the same manner, but always feed and
rest in the most open situations, where it is almost
impossible to approach them unseen. The white-
fronted goose has much more the form and appear-
ance of the common tame goose than the bean-
goose. In this respect, as well as in the peculiar
shape of the head and bill, it exactly resembles
the gray lag.

A single very large wild-swan appeared on the
lakes on the 18th of October, and on the 20th he
was joined by two more. The wild-swans, on their
first arrival, almost always fly into the bay from the
south, coming in flocks of one hundred to two hun-
dred together. The only way I can account for this,
knowing that they must of necessity have wended
their way from the north, is, by supposing that they
first alight on some of the mountain lakes between
Findhorn and Strathspey. A large flight of these
noble birds, as they circle round the fresh- water
lakes on their first arrival, is one of the most beau-

OCT. WILD-SWANS. 5

tiful sights imaginable. There is, too, a wild har-
mony in their bugle-like cry, as they wheel round
and round, now separating into small companies,
as each family of five or six seems inclined to alight,
and now all joining again in a long undulating line,
waiting for the word of command from some old
leader, whose long acquaintance with the country
and its dangers constitutes him a swan of note
among the common herd. At last this leader
makes up his mind to alight, and in a few moments
the whole flock are gradually sinking down on the
calm loch. After a brief moment or two spent in
looking round them, with straight and erect necks,
they commence sipping the water, and turning their
flexible necks into a thousand graceful curves and
attitudes. They then break off into small com-
panies, each apparently a separate family, and set
to work, with seemingly a most excellent appetite,
on the water-grasses and plants. I regret to say
that the number of wild- swans seems to decrease
every year. Fewer and fewer visit this country,
scared away, probably, by the yearly alteration
made in their favourite haunts and feeding-grounds
by draining and other improvements, which sub-
stitute oats for rushes, and sheep for wild-fowl, an
alteration by no means gladdening to the eyes of
my old garde-chasse. The diminution in their

6 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

numbers does not result from the quantity killed,
which, comparatively speaking, is inconsiderable.

On their first arrival the swans are much less shy
and wary than they are after a few weeks' expe-
rience and knowledge of the dangers which sur-
round them. On these lochs, which are tolerably
quiet, a flock generally remains during the whole
winter. The feeding is good, and when anything
disturbs them the sands of the bay offer them a
sure refuge. I seldom interfere with them, unless
I happen to want one for any purpose ; and in
reward for this forbearance I have the pleasure of
seeing them every day in nearly the same part of
the water, either feeding on the plants or pluming
themselves on the small banks and islands. Their
favourite loch is, of course, the one least accessible
to any enemy.

The flesh of the wild-swan, at least of those who
feed inland, is perfectly free from all strong and
unpleasant flavour, their food consisting almost
wholly of a kind of water-grass which has a
bulbous root. In these lochs there is a good
supply of this plant, and the swans become very fat,
so much so as to make it exceedingly difficult to
preserve the skins, the only part of them which I
put to any use. When the feathers are picked out,
there remains on the skin a great thickness of very

OCT. WILD-SWANS. 7

beautiful snow-white down, which, when properly
dressed by a London furrier, makes boas and other
articles of ladies' dress of unrivalled beauty.

Our omnivorous ancestors appear to have been
great eaters of swans. Amongst other dishes at a
feast in the reign of Edward IV., mention is made
of "four hundred swans." Those said ancestors
must have had marvellous capacious stomachs ; for
at the same feast there was the like number of
herons, besides endless other little delicacies, such
as " two thousand pigs ;" the last entrees men-
tioned being " twelve porpoises and seals," these
probably being reserved to the last as a bonne-
bouche. Truly, the tables must have groaned, lite-
rally, not figuratively, under the burden of the good
things laid upon them.

The wild-swans, on their first arrival, as I before
remarked, are not nearly so wild as subsequent ill-
treatment renders them, and I never found much
difficulty in procuring a brace, or more, early in the
season. Awaiting their arrival at a feeding-place
is generally the surest way of getting a shot, or by
waylaying them in their passage from one loch to
another. On a windy day I have got at them,
where the situation has been favourable, by dint of
creeping up through bog and ditch. In rough
weather they are not so ready to take wing, and

8 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

with good management may be driven from one
end of a loch to the other without quitting the
water.

October is the month when the greatest number
of widgeon arrive in the bay ; and the mallards,
also, keep up a constant quacking and calling on
the sands. Every evening at sunset, or soon after-
wards, the latter birds fly to the stubble-fields, pre-
ferring those where there is the least quantity of
grass to cover the scattered grains. The water-
ousels now come down to the burns near the sea;
and these merry little birds resort to the very same
stones year after year. They appear to be regular
attendants on the small streams and burns where
the trout spawn.

Immediately on the retiring of a flood in the
river, great numbers of snipes are seen on the mud
and refuse left by the water, feeding busily. Where
they come from is difficult to say, as at this season,
except on these occasions, we have no great abund-
ance of these birds. Eedshanks, in considerable
flocks, follow their example. On the 16th I see
redwings in the hedges ; fieldfares do not appear
until ten days afterwards. The wood-pigeons now
fly considerable distances to feed on acorns. In the
south of England I have killed wild-ducks with
their crops nearly bursting with the quantity of

OCT. FIELD-MICE. 9

acorns they had swallowed. They collect them
from the single oak-trees standing in grass-fields.

From the variety of food found in the crops of
wild-ducks it is evident that these birds must
wander far and near during the night, and often
into places where no one would expect to find them.
Though the peewits generally leave us early in
October, a flock is sometimes seen at the end of the
month. The golden plovers collect in great crowds
on the banks of the river to enjoy the morning sun.
They are now in excellent condition.

The proceedings of the common long-tailed field-
mouse are amusing, and indicate the care with
which these little annuals provide against the cold
and scarcity of the winter. They dig deep holes in
the stubble-fields, in which they collect large stores
of food, such as grain, acorns, nuts, and even
cherry-stones. On the approach of cold winds or
rain they shut themselves up in their underground
habitations, closing the aperture completely. The
quantity of earth which they dig out and leave
at the mouth of their hole in a single night is quite
astonishing. At the instigation of the gardener my
boys wage war against these little animals. By
pouring water into the holes the poor mouse is
obliged, nolens volens, to bolt like a rabbit driven
out by a ferret.

10 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

Late in the afternoon I constantly see the roe
feeding on those clover-fields where there is suffi-
cient second growth to attract them. Nothing can
be more graceful than the light and agile move-
ments of this animal while nibbling the tender
shoots of the bushes or trees on which it feeds.
The wild-rose and the bramble are amongst its
favourite morsels ; from the long twigs of these
plants it nibbles off leaf by leaf in the most graceful
manner imaginable. As the leaves fall from the
birch and oak woods the roe quit them, and take
to the fir plantations, where they have more quiet
and shelter. The foresters accuse these animals of
being very destructive to their young oak-trees ;
and fond as I am of them, I am afraid that I must
admit the accusation is just, as they undoubtedly
prefer the topmost shoot of a young oak-tree to
almost any other food. Nevertheless, the mischief
done to the woods by roe is but trifling when com-
pared to that done by rabbits. Many an acre is
obliged to be replanted owing to their destructive
nibbling ; and in some of the beautiful woods of
Brodie I saw the fine holly-trees of many years'
growth, with stems of six inches in diameter, per-
fectly killed by being barked by rabbits.

Most of the hill-bred hawks, such as hen-harriers,
merlins, peregrines, etc., come down now to hunt

OCT. PEREGRINE CHASING A MALLARD. 11

the fields, which are clear of corn, and also to feed
on the plovers, etc., which frequent the shore. I
sometimes see the peregrine in pursuit of wild-
ducks ; and one day I observed a hawk of this kind
give chase to an old mallard. The pursuit was
rather curious, reversing the usual order of things,
as the falcon's great object was to keep below the
mallard instead of above him; the latter endeavour-
ing all he could to get to the water, in which case he
knew, as the hawk did also, that his chance of
escape would be the greatest. Once in the water,
his own element, by diving and swimming he would
soon have baffled his pursuer. I don't know what
was the end of the chase ; the last I saw of them
they were winging their rapid flight straight across
the sea for the opposite coast of Ross-shire. Either
the hawk was not willing to strike his prey while
over the water, or the mallard had a vigour of wing
which enabled him to keep ahead of his murderous
enemy.

My tame peregrine, after some years spent in
perfect friendship and alliance with our pet owl,
ended in killing and eating her ; a piece of un-
generous barbarism which I should not have sus-
pected so fine a bird would have committed. They
seemed to have quarrelled over the remains of some
bird that was given them. At any rate all that

1 2 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

remained of the poor owl was a leg or two and
some of the longer feathers.

The country in its present enclosed state is not
so well adapted to the sport of hawking as
formerly ; but, as far as relates to the training of
the birds, the process is much more simple and
easy than is generally supposed. Of course the
trainer must take in hand a bird of the proper
kind, such as a peregrine, a merlin, or an Iceland
or ger falcon. A goshawk is tractable enough,
but has not the same dash and rapid flight as any
of the true long- winged falcons.

The first step is to accustom your bird to the
hood, without which you can do nothing; but most
hawks allow themselves to be hooded quietly
enough, and are then to a great degree under your
command, as when hooded you can carry her when
and where you like on your hand, and familiarise
her to your voice and to being handled.

The next step is to accustom the hawk to feed
on the lure, and only on the lure, so as to fly
directly to it whenever she sees it: indeed, the lure
ought only to be shown when the bird is to feed.

These two points gained, you must proceed to
flying the hawk in an open field, substituting a
long silken string, or " creance," for the short
leathern strap, the " leash," by which you always

OCT. TKAINING OF FALCONS. 13

hold her. By taking her out hungry, and by show-
ing her, when mounted in the air, the lure with
food attached to it, you will find that she will
swoop at once down to her usual feeding-place,
which, as I have said, should be the " lure " only.

After doing this two or three days, if the hawk
appears tractable, and not at all shy or wild, take
her out when very hungry and let her mount
without any " creance ;" and when she is well
up in the air, toss down the lure, which until
then should be concealed, and ten to one but the
hawk will immediately come down upon it with
the rapidity of an arrow ; and a more beautiful
sight than the swoop of a hawk from a great height
I do not know.

To make her kill her game, you must at first let
her fly at a pigeon, or other bird, with its wings
partially cut, so as to ensure the hawk against
failure at the commencement. After she has killed
two or three birds in this way, she will probably
kill any bird you may fly her at in a favourable
country. But in this fine old sport the mere kill-
ing the game is almost a minor consideration.
The flight, the soaring, and the rapid detection of,
and descent upon, the lure, are in themselves most
interesting and beautiful.

I am not sufficiently skilled in the science, even

14 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

if I had time and space, to attempt technically to
describe or make others understand all that is
required to constitute an accomplished falconer.
The moulting of the falcons, their keeping, feeding,
and training, must all be perfectly understood and
carefully attended to ; and although almost any
person who has his time at his command may
manage to keep a single hawk in good training
and obedience, yet to carry out the amusement to
any degree of perfection, a professed and skilful
falconer must be engaged, whose sole and entire
employment should be to attend to the health and
education of the birds.

The training of falcons is much facilitated by
the natural disposition of the bird, which is bold,
confiding, and fearless ; and these qualifications,
assisted by the keen sense of hunger felt by all
animals of prey, render their taming and education
far more easy than would at first be supposed.

Next to the peregrine the merlin is the best
hawk to train, being equally bold and fearless ; and,
although of so a small size, has courage enough
to dash fearlessly when launched from the hand at
whatever bird it may see on wing. A merlin be-
longing to a friend of mine would fiercely assail a
blackcock. This hawk, too, is so beautiful and so
finely formed, that a prettier pet cannot be found ;

OCT. GOSHAWKS. 15

and when once a hawk is accustomed to the hood,
the trouble of keeping her is very little.

The goshawk, although a fine handsome bird,
has not the speed of any of the long- winged hawks,
but she flies well at rabbits. I am told that the
instantaneous manner in which this hawk kills a
rabbit, by breaking its skull at a single blow, can
only be understood by those who have seen it.

But I am wandering into a subject of which I
know too little from personal experience to render
my remarks of any value, and will only recom-
mend those of my readers who possess time and
energy to procure a peregrine falcon in good health
and perfect plumage (the latter point is most im-
portant), and then, with some treatise on hawking
in one hand, try if he cannot soon train the hawk
which sits hooded on his other. With a fair share
of temper, patience, and careful observation, he
will be sure to succeed.

The goshawk is the most rare kind in this
country. The only place where I know of its
breeding regularly is the forest of Darnaway ; but
I am told that they also breed in the large fir- woods
near the Spey. The bright piercing eye of the
goshawk has a peculiarly savage and cruel expres-
sion, without the fine bold open look of the pere-
grine. At this season that singular hawk, the

16 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXI.

osprey, is sometimes seen soaring, with its kestrel-
like flight, along the course of the river. I occa-
sionally see one hovering over the lower pools ; but,
in general, this bird is seen only in transitu from
one side of the country to the other. The golden
eagle, too, passes on his way at this season from
north to south, frequently attended by a rabble
rout of gray crows, who, when they have pursued
the kingly bird for a certain distance, give up the
chase, which is immediately taken up by a fresh
band, who in their turn pass him over to new
assailants. It would appear that each set follows
him as long as he is within what seems their own
especial district, like country constables passing
*on a sturdy vagrant from one parish to another.

o

O

a

a
u

a

OCT. A FINE OCTOBER MORNING. 17

CHAPTEK XXII.

OCTOBER. PART II.

A SEA-SIDE WALK IN OCTOBER.

Beauty of a fine October morning — Departure and arrival of
Birds— A walk along the Coast — The Goosander — Golden
Eye and Morillon — Plovers— Widgeon ; habits of in feed-
ing ; occasionally breed in Scotland — Sands of the Bay —
Flounders — Herons — Curlews, Peewits, etc. — Oyster-birds —
Mussel Scarps — Sea View — Longtails — -Mallards — Velvet
Ducks ; mode of feeding — Rabbits and Foxes — Formation of
the Sandhills ; remains of antiquity found in them — Seals
— Salmon-fishers — Old Man catching Flounders — Swans —
Unauthorised Fox-chase — Black Game — Roe.

Charming to every sense is the first return of

spring : but quite as enjoyable is a fine dry

autumn day, and far more invigorating is the

first frosty morning than the breath of the most

balmy spring breeze that ever gave life to bird or

butterfly. In this part of the island, too, spring

is at best but a capricious and uncertain beauty,

and in the course of four-and-twenty hours one is

burnt by an almost tropical sun, and cut in twain

by an east wind which seems to have been born

and bred in the heart of an iceberg.

Not so in autumn, or at any rate during the
VOL. II. c

18 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

early part of it. In October, the equinox being
tolerably well over, and the more severe frosts of
winter not yet set in, nothing can exceed the ex-
hilarating feeling which comes with every breeze.
How beautiful is the rising of the sun! — bright and
reel, it casts a splendour of colour, in every grada-
tion of light and shade, on the rugged mountains
of the west, whose summits, already capped with
snow, have the hue and refulgence of enormous
opals ; the sun too rises at a proper gentlemanlike
hour, so as to give every one a chance of admiring
him on his first appearance, instead of hurrying
into existence too early for most of the world to
witness his young beauties.

From my earliest days I rejoiced more in autumn
than in any other season. " Pomifer autumnus"
calls forth in the schoolboy's mind a remem-
brance of apples and fruit, ripe and ruddy. In
later years autumn (and October is undoubtedly
the prime month of that season) fills us with thank-
fulness for the abundance and variety of the pro-
ductions of the earth. As I wander now in the
wilds and woods, by river and glade, on every side
the changing foliage of the different trees displays an
endless variety of beautiful colours. Every thicket
and grove has its rich mixture of emerald green,
bright brown, and different shades of gold and red.

OCT. A WALK ALONG THE COAST. 19

Every day too lias its interest in the eyes of the
dweller on this coast, for the arrivals and departures
of different birds are unintermitting. An infinite
variety of wild-fowl come over from the north and
north-east, while our summer visitants, such as the
landrail, cuckoo, swallow, and most of the insect-
eating birds, disappear. One of my most favourite
walks is along the coast, beginning at the mouth of
the river and following the shores of the bay till I
reach the open firth ; then after continuing along
the beach for three or four miles, I return through
the wild uncultivated ground which divides the
sea-shore from the arable lands. At this season
the variety of birds which are to be seen in the
course of this walk is astonishing. Starting from
home soon after sunrise, with a biscuit in my
pocket, my gun or rifle on my arm, and my
constant canine companion with me, I am inde-
pendent for the day. Bright and bracing is
the autumn morning ; the robin sings joyously
and fearlessly from the topmost twig of some
rose-bush as I pass through the garden, whilst
the thrushes and black-birds are busily employed
in turning up the leaves which already begin to
strew the walks as they search in conscious
security for the gray snails, repaying in kind
for the strawberries and cherries they have robbed

20 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIL

us of; and welcome are they to their share of
fruit in the season of plenty.

The partridges, as I pass through the field, seem
aware that I am not bent on slaughter, but on a
quiet walk of observation ; and instead of rising
and flying off as I pass them, simply lower their
heads till I am beyond them, and then begin feed-
ing again on the stubbles.

From the pools at the end of the river a brace
or two of teal and snipes, or perhaps of mallards
rise, and probably one or two are bagged, as I
make no scruple of shooting these birds of passage
when they give me an opportunity.

Looking quietly over the bank of the river, I
see a couple of goosanders fishing busily at the
tail of a pool. They are not worth eating, and I
do not just now want a specimen ; so after watch-
ing them for a short time, as they fish for small
trout, I walk on, leaving them unmolested. If
however I show any portion of my figure above
the bank, their quick eye detects me, and after
gazing for half a minute with erect neck, they fly
off; at first flajjping the surface of the water,
or almost running along it ; and then gradually
rising, wend their way to a few pools higher up
the river, where alighting they re-commence their
fishing.

OCT. PEEWITS — PLOVER — WIDGEON. 21

The golden-eye duck and the ruorillon also are
frequently seen diving for shell-fish and weed in
the deep quiet pools, but never fishing in the
shallow parts of the river like the goosander.

The peewits do not leave us till quite the end of
October, and during most of the month are in im-
mense numbers on the sands near the mouth of the
river. In the dusk of the evening they as well as
the golden plover leave the sands, and take to the
fields in search of worms and snails, generally fre-
quenting the ploughed land or the grass-fields. As
I pass along the shore of the bay, large flocks of
widgeon fly to and fro as the ebb-tide leaves un-
covered the small grassy island and banks. Unlike
the mallard and teal, both which are night-feeding
birds, the widgeon feeds at any hour of the day or
night indiscriminately, not waiting for the dusk to
commence their search for food, but grazing like
geese on the grass whenever they can get at it.
Although towards the end of winter the shyest of
all water-fowl, the widgeon, at this season, owing
to their not having been persecuted and fired at,
may be easily approached, and with a little care
may be closely watched^ as they swim to and fro
from bank to bank; sometimes landing, and at other
times cropping the grass as they swim along the
edge. If a pair of mallards is amongst the flock,

22 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAH. CH. XXII.

the drake's green head is soon seen to rise up above
the rest, as his watchfulness is seldom long deceived;
with low quacking he warns his mate, and the two
then rise, giving an alarm to the widgeon. The
latter, after one or two rapid wheels in the air, re-
turn to their feeding-ground, but the mallards fly
off to a considerable distance before they stop. "lis
as well to make the widgeon pay tribute, so creeping
to the nearest part of the bank I wait till a flock
has approached within shot and in close rank, and
giving them both barrels four or five drop. If any
are winged my dog has a tolerably hard chase ; for
no bird dives more quickly than the widgeon : and
they invariably make directly for the deep water,
taking long dives, and only showing the top of their
head when they are obliged to come up to breathe.
Both male and female have the same sober plumage
at this season ; nor are the drakes in full beauty
till January. I shot a brace of widgeon on the 8th
of September this year, which is a month before
their usual time of arrival. A flock of eight passed
over my head, nearly a quarter of a mile from the
sea, and I killed two of them — one apparently a
young, and the other an old bird. I am inclined to
think that they had been hatched in this part of the
country. Although they leave us regularly in the
spring, I have been told by an old poacher that he

OCT. WIDGEON BREED IN SCOTLAND. 23

has no doubt a pair or two, probably wounded birds,
remain about some of the unfrequented lochs and
breed, as he says that he has occasionally seen
widgeon in summer in one or two places in the
neighbourhood, but that this is rare. As my
informant has a very accurate acquaintance with
most birds, I believe his account to be correct. The
widgeon that I saw on the 8th of September had
very much the appearance of a brood which had
been hatched near at hand, one of the birds not
having arrived at that fulness and hardness of plu-
mage that would enable it to have made a long
aerial voyage. In Sutherland they breed every year.

I have a long walk before me, and bright as an
October day is, the sun does not give us many hours
of his company, but seems to be in a great hurry
to hide his glorious head behind the snowy peaks
of Inverness-shire.

In crossing the sands of the bay in order to arrive
at the neck of sandy ground that divides it from the
main sea, there are many runs of water to be waded,
some caused by the river itself, which branches out
into numerous small streams which intersect the
sands, and some made by two good-sized brooks
which empty themselves into the bay. In all these
streams there are innumerable flounders, large and
small, which dart as quick as lightning from under

24 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

your feet. Their chief motive power seems to lie in
their broad tails, with which they propel themselves
along at a wonderful rate ; then suddenly stopping,
they in an instant bury themselves in the sand; and
it is only a very sharp eye that can detect the exact
spot where they are by observing their outline
faintly marked on the sand in which they are en-
sconced : sometimes also their two prominent eyes
may be discovered in addition to their outline.

It is a favourite amusement with my boys in the
summer to hunt and spear the flounders which re-
main at low water in the pools and runs of water
in the bay. On a calm day, by wading to where
the water is a foot or two in depth, they kill, with
the assistance of a long light spear, a basketful
of good-sized fish.

"When a flounder is taken out of the water and
laid on the moist sands, by a peculiar lateral motion
of his fins he buries himself as quickly as if still
in his own element.

The large gulls keep up a system of surveillance
over all the calm pools at low water, hovering over
them, and pouncing down like hawks on any fish
which may be left in them. As the tide ebbs, num-
bers of herons, also, come down to the water's edge,
and keeping up step by step with the receding tide,
watch for any fish or marine animal that may suit

OCT. GOOD CONDITION OF WILD-BIRDS. 25

their appetite. It is amusing to observe these birds
as they stride slowly and deliberately in knee-deep
water, with necks outstretched, intent on their
prey, their gray shadowy figures looking more like
withered sticks than living creatures.

As for curlews, peewits, sandpipers, et id genus
omne, their numbers in the bay are countless.
Eegularly as the tide begins to ebb do thousands
of these birds leave the higher banks of sand and
shingle on which they have been resting, and betake
themselves to the wet sands in search of their food;
and immense must be the supply which every tide
throws up, or leaves exposed, to afford provision to
them all. Small shell-fish, shrimps, sea-worms,
and other insects form this wondrous abundance.
Every bird too, out of those countless flocks, is not
only in good order, but is covered with fat, show-
ing how well the supply is proportioned to the
demand ; indeed, in the case of all wild -birds, it
is observable that they are invariably plump and
well-conditioned, unless prevented by some wound
or injury from foraging for themselves.

On the mussel scarps are immense flocks of
oyster-catchers, brilliant with their black and white
plumage, and bright red bill, and a truly formidable
weapon must that bill be to mussel or cockle ; it is
long and powerful, with a sharp point as hard as

26 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIL

ivory, which driven in by the full strength of the bird's
head and neck, must penetrate like a wedge into the
shell of the strongest shell-fish found on these shores.

Beautiful, surpassingly beautiful, is the view
before me, as I rest myself on a height of the sand-
hills facing towards the north. The bright and
calm sea close at hand, and the variously-shaped
and variously-coloured cliffs and rocks of Cromarty
and Boss-shire, at a distance in reality of twelve or
fifteen miles, but which, as the sun shines full upon
them, appear to be very much nearer, and all these
are backed by mountains of every form and outline,
but of a uniform deep blue tipped with white peaks.
The sea as smooth as a mirror except where some
sea-fowl suddenly splashes down into the water,
making a few silvery circles, which soon disappear.
Every here and there is a small flock of the long-
tailed duck, diving and sporting in the sea, and
uttering their strange but musical cry as they chase
each other, swimming rapidly in small circles or
taking short flights close above the surface ; the
whole flock dropping all at once into the water as
if shot, not alighting gradually like the mallard
and other ducks.

The heavy but handsome velvet ducks ride
quietly on the sea in small companies, at the dis-
tance of about two hundred yards from the shore,

OCT. VELVET DUCKS — BABBITS — FOXES. 27

apparently keeping over some ridge of sand or other
feeding-ground, down to which they are continually
diving. These birds drift along with the tide till it
has carried them beyond the place where they feed;
then they rise, and fly back for some distance, look-
ing more like blackcocks than ducks, and dropping
again into the water, they continue their diving till
the tide has drifted them beyond the end of the
feeding-ground ; and this they do again and again.

The rabbits which inhabit these sandhills are
certainly larger and heavier than those living in
the more cultivated country, though their food
must consist almost entirely of dry bent, with the
variety of a little sea-weed and the furze bushes,
which they eat into numerous shapes, like foot-
stools, ottomans, etc.

Foxes almost as tall and powerful as greyhounds
frequent this desert region ; and their fresh tracks
are seen after every tide close to the sea-shore,
whither they have been in search of cast-up fish,
wounded wild-fowl, and such like.

I never pass over these sand-hills without en-
deavouring to suggest to myself some new theory
respecting their origin, and what was the state
of the country which they now cover over. That
beneath the accumulation of sand there has once
been a range of fertile fields cannot be doubted, as

28 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

in different places are seen furrows and other well-
defined traces of cultivated land ; yet no account
exists of the destruction of these fields by the inroad
of the sand; evidently the change was accomplished
suddenly. In many parts of this sandy region
there are distinct marks of rushing waters ; ridges
of both sand and shingle are cast up in a manner
which could only have been effected by some tre-
mendous rush of water ; and strange pyramids of
stones also are heaped up in several places, to all
appearance by the same agency.

Few remains of antiquity have ever been found
here ; indeed, it is rarely these sands are trodden
by any foot save that of some poacher in search
of rabbits. I have, however, seen a most curious
bracelet-like ornament which was found here. It
is made of fine bronze, in the shape of a snake,
which, it has been supposed, had a head at each
extremity, formed of some precious stone ; these,
however, are lost, the fastenings having corroded.
In shape this relic appeared to me to resemble one
of the bands which bound together the fasces carried
by a Eoman lictor. On further examination it has,
I believe, been ascertained that the bronze must
have encircled some ornament or weapon of wood,
which has rotted away, leaving nothing but the
more durable metal.

OCT. HUMAN SKELETONS — ELF-ARROWS — SEALS. 29

It has twice happened to me to find human
skeletons, or rather the remains of skeletons,
lying on the sand, laid bare by some drifting
wind, or half disinterred by the subterraneous pro-
ceedings of the rabbits. In both cases the remains
were evidently of great antiquity, but had been
preserved by the dry sand.

Those curiously carved pieces of flint called elf-
arrows are not uncommon in some parts of the
sandhills.

On one part of the sands, which forms a peninsula
at low water, but an island when it is high, I perhaps
discover two or three seals lying. Clumsy looking
as they are, at the slightest alarm they scuffle off
with great rapidity into the water. Once there they
feel secure, and rising at a short distance from the
shore, they take a good look at the intruder on
their domain. Ugly and misshapen as a seal
appears on land, he is when in the water by no
means an unsightly-looking animal ; and he floats
and dives with a quiet rapidity which appears mar-
vellous to the looker-on. You see a seal's head
appear above the water ; and you sit down half
concealed, with ready rifle, to wait his reappearance.
In a minute or two you are suddenly startled by its
rising quietly in quite a different direction ; and
after gazing intently at you for a few moments with

30 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

its dark, mild-looking eyes, the sleek, shining head
disappears again below the surface without making
a ripple on the water, just as you have screwed
yourself round, and are about to touch the trigger
of your rifle, leaving you almost in doubt as to
whether it is a seal or a mermaid. The High-
landers, however, are by no means prepossessed in
favour of the good looks of a seal, or "sealgh," as
they pronounce the word. " You are nothing but a
sealgh" is a term of reproach which, when given by
one fishwoman to another, is considered the direct
insult, and a climax to every known term of abuse.
It is curious to observe the seals resting on some
shallow, with only their heads above the water, and
their noses elongated into a proboscis-like shape.
They will frequently lie in this manner for hours
together, until the return of the tide either floats
them off their resting-place, or some other cause
induces them to shift their quarters. The great-
est drawback in most localities to shooting seals
is the difficulty of getting the animal when killed.
Tenacious of life to a surprising degree, a seal,
unless shot through the head, escapes to the water,
however severely wounded he may be, and, sink-
ing to the bottom, is lost to the sportsman. When
shot through the head, he struggles for perhaps a
minute on the surface, and then sinks like a stone

OCT. SEALS. 31

to the bottom. A strong courageous retriever some-
times succeeds in towing a dead seal ashore, if he
can reach him before he sinks, and has the good
luck or judgment to take hold of one of the animal's
feet, or " flippers," the only part which the dog can
get into his mouth.

A seal has a very acute scent, and can never be
approached from the windward. I conceive that
their eyesight is less perfect ; at any rate they are
endowed with a certain dangerous curiosity which
makes them anxious to approach and reconnoitre
any object which they may have seen at a little dis-
tance, and do not quite understand. I have seen
a seal swim up to within twenty yards of a dog on
the shore, for the purpose apparently of examining
him, as some unknown animal. Music, too, or any
uncommon or loud noise attracts them; and they
will follow for a considerable distance the course of
a boat in which any loud musical instrument is
played, putting up their heads, and listening with
great eagerness to the unknown strains. I have
even seen them approach boldly to the shore,
where a bagpiper was playing, and continue to
swim off and on at a hundred yards' distance.

Notwithstanding their wariness and the diffi-
culty of capturing them, seals are gradually dimin-
ishing in number, and will soon disappear from our

32 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

coasts. This is owing chiefly to the constant war-
fare carried on against them by the salmon-fishers,
who either destroy them or frighten them away
as far as they can from their fishing stations.

On the neck of land at which we have now
arrived there is a hut inhabited during the season
by a couple of salmon-fishers, whose business it is
to attend to the stake-net, which stretches out from
near their hut into the sea. A lonely life these men
must lead, from March to September, varied only by
visits from or to their comrades, who are stationed
at the depot of ice at Findhorn, where all the fish
caught are sent to be kept till a sufficient quantity
is ready to load one of their quick-sailing vessels for
London. But if their life is lonely it is not idle, as
the exposed situation of their nets renders them
liable to constant injury from wind and sea. At
every low tide the men scramble and wade to the
end or trap part of the net to take out the fish
which have been caught, and to scrape off the net
the quantity of sea-weed that has adhered to it
during the last tide. Although they do not always
find salmon, they are seldom so unlucky as not to
catch a number of goodly-sized flounders, which
fall to the share of the fishermen themselves ; and
perhaps once or twice in the season a young seal
gets entangled and puzzled in the windings of the

OCT. FIELD-MICE — GEESE — WADERS. 33

net, and is drowned in it. More frequently, how-
ever, the twine is damaged and torn by the larger
seals, who are too strong and cunning to be so
easily caught.

Frequently on this barren peninsula I have
fallen in with a small colony of field-mice. They
are in shape like the common large-headed and
short -tailed mouse, which is so destructive in
gardens, but of a brighter and lighter colour. These
little animals must live on the seeds of the bent
and on such dead fish as they may fall in with.

The brent goose is not a constant visitor here in
the winter. This bird, though very numerous in
the Cromarty Firth, does not find in this part of the
coast the particular kind of sea-grass on which it
feeds. There are generally, however, a small com-
pany of these geese about the basin. A few white-
fronted geese are constantly here from October to
April or May, living either in the lonely mosses
near the sea, or about the sands. Of other wild-
geese we have no large flocks, except during the
time of sowing the oats, when bean-geese arrive in
great numbers.

This bay, like that of Findhorn, is always swarm-
ing with loaders of every description, from the cur-
lew to the redshank, and from the smallest kind of
sandpiper to the old man we see yonder, who is

VOL. II. d

34 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

wading mid-leg deep in the tide, keeping even pace
with the water as it flows in to fill the basin. His
occupation was for some time a mystery to me, till
approaching him, I saw that he had a singular
kind of creel slung to his neck, and a long clumsy-
looking kind of trident in his hand. Walking
slowly backwards, but still keeping in two-foot
water, with poised weapon and steady eye he
watches for the flounders which come in with every
tide. When he sees one, down goes his spear ; and
the unlucky fish is hoisted into the air, and then
deposited in the creel.

I waited until, having either filled his basket, or
being driven to land by the increased depth of the
tide, the old man quitted the water. He either had
not noticed me or did not choose to do so before he
landed. When I accosted him by asking him what
luck he had had, I got at first rather a grunt than
an answer, as he seemed in no very communicative
mood ; but having refreshed himself by a spoonful
of snuff, which he crammed into his nose with a
little wooden kind of ladle, he told me that he
" had na got muckle vennison the morn," adding
that he "did na ken what had driven the beasts out
of the bay of late ;" venison, or, as he pronounced
it, " ven-ni-son," meaning in this country any eat-
able creature, fish, flesh, or fowl. The old fellow

OCT. OLD FLOUNDER -FISHER. 35

seemed of a most bilious and irritable temperament;
and I believe had I not won him over by dint of
whisky and fair words, he would have laid his bad
success in flounder catching to my shooting wild-
fowl in the bay. As it was, he gradually became
tolerably gracious, and told me many marvellous
stories of the good old time, when salmon -fishers
were fewer and seals more plentiful ; so much so,
that, according to his account, every tide left num-
bers of these now rare animals in the pools of water
in the bay ; and a " puir man wha wanted a drop
oil or bit seal-skin had only to go down at low
water to the pools, and he could get a sealgh as
sune as I can get a fluke in these days." Since this
colloquy I and the old flounder-fisher have always
been on tolerable terms.

The sea in this bay, as well as in other similar
ones on the coast, runs in so rapidly that, without
keeping a good look-out, there is a chance of
being surrounded by the water, and detained till
an hour or two after the tide begins to ebb again,
which in these short autumn days would be incon-
venient, as I am now at least six miles from home,
a great part of which distance is over the roughest
piece of moss and heather that I know, full, too,
of concealed holes treacherously covered over with
vegetation.

36 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

The first flock of swans which I have seen this
season are just arriving in a long undulating line.
As they come over the sands where they will pro-
bably rest for the night, the whole company sets up
a simultaneous concert of trumpet-like cries ; and
after one or two wheels round the place, light down
on the sand, and immediately commence pluming
themselves and putting their feathers in order, after
their long and weary flight from the wild morasses
of the north. After a short dressing of feathers
and resting a few minutes, the whole beautiful flock
stretch their wings again, and rise gradually into
the air, but to no great height, their pinions sound-
ing loud as they flap along the shallow water before
getting well on wing. They then fly off, led by
instinct or the experience of former years, to where
a small stream runs into the bay, and where its
waters have not yet mingled with the salt sea.
Here they alight, and drink and splash about to
their hearts' content. This done, they waddle out
of the stream, and after a little stretching of wings
and arranging of plumage, standing in a long row,
dispose themselves to rest, every bird with her head
and long neck laid on her back, with the excep-
tion of one unfortunate individual, who by a well-
understood arrangement stands with erect neck and
watchful eye to guard his sleeping companions.

OCT. VIGILANCE OF WILD-SWANS. 37

They have, however, a proper sense of justice, and
relieve guard regularly, like a well-disciplined gar-
rison. I would willingly disturb their rest with a
charge of swan-shot, could I get within range, but
not being able so to do, I must needs leave the
noble-looking birds to rest in peace. When I get
up from the place where I was sitting to watch them,
the sentinal gives a low cry of alarm, which makes
the whole rank lift their heads for a moment ; but
seeing that they are out of danger, and that instead
of approaching them I am walking in the contrary
direction, they all dispose themselves again to rest,
with the exception of their watchful sentry. In the
morning, at daybreak, they will all be feeding in
the shallow lakes in the neighbourhood, led there
by some old bird who has made more than one
journey to this country before now. Wistfully my
dog watches the snow-white flock ; but the evening-
is coming on, and we must leave them.

A desert of moss, heather, and stunted fir-trees,
which takes an hour to walk through, affords little
worthy of note, with the exception of that fine
fellow of a fox who, as we pass on, surveys us from
a hillock well out of reach. The gray crows flying
and croaking over his head first called my attention
to him. Nothing is to be seen now but the top of
his head and the tips of his ears, as he lowers him-

38 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

self down gradually and quietly the moment lie sees
rne look in his direction. But my dog has got the
scent; and off he goes in a vain pursuit. Tractable
and well broken as he is with regard to game, no
sooner does he perceive the inciting odour of a fox
or otter, than, heedless of call or threat, he is off in
pursuit. Look now ! away goes the fox at a quick
but easy gallop, through the swamp, with his tail
(Anglic& brush) well up in the air. A fox is always
a great dandy about his brush ; and keeps it free
from wet and dirt as long as he possibly can : a sure
sign of poor Eeynard beginning to feel distressed
is his brush appearing soiled and blackened. Ah !
the dog has got on his scent again, and begins to
press hard on his hated foe ; but as I well know
he has not the slightest chance against the light-
heeled fox, who is always in racing condition,
whereas the retriever, with his curly coat and good
living, will be blown before he has run a mile.
I continue my walk. Presently the dog returns
panting like a porpoise ; and conscious of his irre-
gular conduct, before he takes his usual place at
my side, stops behind a little while, wagging his
tail, and grinning in the most coaxing manner
imaginable, till he has examined my face with that
skill in physiognomy which all dogs possess ;
then seeing that I cannot help smiling at him,

OCT. BLACKCOCK — ROEBUCK. 39

he jumps boldly up to me, knowing that he is
forgiven.

Occasionally a blackcock flies past us. These
birds, a considerable number of which frequent this
wild region, sleep every night in the highest and
roughest heather they can find, in order to guard
against the attacks of the fox, who in his hunting
excursions seldom walks over that kind of ground,
preferring beaten tracks, or the edges of pools or
marshes, along which he can walk unheard and
easily, till his acute nose warns him of the vicinity
of some prey; whereas the strong and large heather
in which blackcocks roost cannot be walked over
quietly and comfortably by an animal whose legs are
so short as those of a fox. The gray hens stand a
much worse chance. Led by their maternal instinct
to build their nests near the edges of the smoother
grounds, where their young, when hatched, can run
about, they are so much exposed to the attack of
the foxes that scarcely one is left, and before long
the breed in this part of the country will be quite
worn out.

Up to his knees in a swamp stands a beautiful
roebuck, feeding quickly and hungrily on the coarse
grasses which grow there ; whilst half way up the
brae a doe and her fawn are nibbling the faded
leaves off a wild-rose bush. By a little manage-

40 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII.

merit I could easily get within thirty yards of them,
but I prefer watching them a little while with my
glass. The buck has got the wind of me now, and
starting up, looks quickly round, and then bounds
up the steep brae to where the doe and fawn are
standing, and after the whole party have halted on
the top for a minute to reconnoitre me, they all
bound off again into the densest part of the thicket.

As I approach home, and the evening comes on,
different small flocks of wild -ducks pass with
whistling pinion over my head, on their way to some
well-known stubble. The barley-fields appear to
be their favourite feeding ground at this season,
probably because there is always more barley left
on the ground than any other kind of grain.

The ferryman at the river where I pass tells me
that he "is thinking that I have had a long travel,
but that I have not got much ven-ni-son" In both
surmises he is not far wrong, but I have enjoyed
my long and rough walk as much — ay, and much
more — than I should have done the best battue in
Norfolk, or the best day's grouse-shooting in Perth-
shire. But it is time I should finish my chapter :
we all become prosy when talking of our favourite
pursuits.

' ' Navita de ventis, de tauris narrat arator,
Enumerat miles vulnera, pastor oves : "

OCT.

SPORTING ENTHUSIASM.

41

And when I once get fairly launched on the subject
of wild-ducks and roebucks, mountains and floods,
the honest truth is that I know not when to stop,
and must, I fear, frequently exhaust the patience

of the most indulgent reader.

42 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII.

CHAPTER XXIII.

NOVEMBER.

The Snow Bunting — Regularity of appearance — Tomtit and
Thrushes ; worthy of protection — The Water Ousel — Trout —
Otters; their defence of their young — Otter-hunting —
Habits of Otters — Seals ; power of remaining under water ;
habits of; decrease of — Wild-swans — -Plovers, etc. — Dun
Divers — Hares.

November, month though it be of cold winds and
sleet, is generally ushered in by flocks of that beau-
tiful little bird the snow bunting. For three suc-
cessive years I have first seen this winter visitor on
the first of November, which is another instance of
the regularity of birds in their migrations. Scarcely
any two of the snow buntings are quite alike. In
the first flocks that come there are only a few which
are light-coloured, but as the snow and frost in-
crease the white birds become more numerous. I
do not know whether they arrive during the night,
but I have constantly heard their note after it has
been quite dark, the birds being at the time on
wing; and this sometimes occurs several hours after
nightfall.

A beautiful little blue tomtit has taken up his

NOV. TOMTITS — THRUSHES — BLACKBIRDS. 43

abode voluntarily in the drawing-room. It would
seem that at first he was attracted by the few house
flies who at this season crawl slowly about the win-
dows. These he was most active in searching for
and catching, inserting his little bill into every
corner and crevice, and detecting every fly which
had escaped the brush of the housemaid. He soon,
however, with increased boldness, came down to
pick up crumbs, which the children placed for him
close to me on the table. From his activity and
perseverance in exterminating flies, this bird
appears well worthy of protection.

The thrushes, and blackbirds too, earn the favour
of the gardener by their constant destruction of
snails, in search of which, at this season, they are
all day busily employed in turning over the dead
leaves under the garden walls, and at the bottom
of the hedges. My experience convinces me that
there are few of the common birds whose persever-
ance in destroying grubs, caterpillars, etc., for at
least nine months of the year, does not amply repay
the mischief done by them in eating cherries and
seeds during the remaining three. It is difficult,
however, to persuade the farmer to look on rooks
and wood-pigeons as his friends, wmen he sees
them in flocks on the nearly ripe wheat-field, on
the produce of which he mainly depends for paying

44 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII.

his rent. Nevertheless, were he to examine the
crops of any of these wild-birds, and see what they
were filled with during three-fourths of the year,
he would find that they fully recompense him for
all the grain they devour. Undoubtedly a con-
siderable quantity of newly-sown wheat is eaten
by different birds. Sea-gulls, amongst others, seem
to swallow the grain indiscriminately with the
grubs and worms turned up by the harrows ; and
large flocks of greenfinches and buntings are busily
occupied in searching for whatever corn is not
well covered over. The wild-clucks, too, come at
night to shovel up what remains in the furrows.

This is the season at which partridges migrate
from the high grounds to the cultivated fields.
Fresh unbroken coveys frequently appear near the
lower part of the river : sometimes they come in
flocks of twenty or thirty. In damp weather these
birds seek the dry and warm ground on the sandy
places about the lower islands, and appear entirely
to desert the fields excepting at feeding time.

The water-ousel enlivens the burn by its low
but sweet note, uttered either while perched on its
accustomed stone in the midst of a rapid, or whilst
floating with open wings on the surface of a quiet
pool — a method of proceeding quite peculiar to this
interesting little bird. The salmon -fishers wage

NOV. TROUT — OTTERS. 45

war to the knife with the water-ousel ; and, indeed,
I have no doubt that it is not a little destructive to
the spawning beds, although I am inclined to think
that it attacks the trout spawn more frequently
than that of the salmon. If so, this bird also does
fully as much good as harm ; the most deadly
enemy to salmon being the larger burn trout,
whose favourite food is, undoubtedly, the ova of
the salmon.

The trout now betake themselves to every run-
ning stream, working their way up the narrowest
rills, in order to place their spawn.

At this time of year the otters are constant
visitors at the lower parts of the river, searching
for flounders, eels, etc. There are certain small
hillocks which every otter as he passes appears to
examine in order to find the trace of any chance
stranger of his own species. There are now two
old ones and two young ones hunting the lower
part of the Findhorn ; their presence is always
easily detected by their tracks on the sandy banks,
as they constantly leave the water on their return
up the stream to the cpiiet hiding-places where
they pass the day.

When accompanied by her young the female
otter throws aside her usual shyness, and is ready
to do stout battle in their behalf. A Highlander

46 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII.

of my acquaintance happened to find a couple of
young otters in a hollow bank, and having made
prisoners of them, was carrying them home in tri-
umph in his plaid. The old otter, however, attracted
by their cries, left the river, and so determinedly
opposed his carrying them away, by placing herself
directly in his path, and blowing and hissing like a
cat at him, with tail and bristles erect, that the man,
although as stout a fellow as ever trod on heather,
was glad to give up one of the young ones, and
make his escape with the other while the mother
was occupied in assuring herself of the safe con-
dition of the one she had rescued.

When caught young no animal is more easily
tamed than the otter; and it will soon learn to
fish for its master. In educating all wild animals,
however, it is absolutely necessary that the pupil
should live almost constantly with its teacher, so
as to become perfectly familiarised with his voice
and presence.

Even when young the otter is a most powerful
and severe biter, closing its jaws with the strength
of a vice on whatever it seizes. Every courageous
dog who has once battled with an otter, retains ever
afterwards the most eager and violent animosity
against the animal. The scent of an otter renders
my otherwise most tractable retriever quite uncon-

NOV. OTTER-HUNTING. 47

trollable. The remembrance of former bites and
wounds seems to drive him frantic, and no sooner
does he come across the fresh track of one than he
immediately throws aside all control, and is off
ventre a terrc in pursuit.

It is not often that an otter commits himself so
far as to be found during the daytime in any situ-
ation where he can be approached ; but one day in
this month I was out for a quiet walk with my
retriever, looking at some wide drains and small
pools for wild-ducks, when suddenly the dog went
off, nose to the ground, in so eager a manner that
I knew nothing but a fox or an otter could have
been the cause of his excitement ; and I soon
found in a nearly dry open drain the quite recent
track of a very large otter. For a long time he
would not show himself, till suddenly the dog
rushed into a thick juniper bush, and the next
moment dog and otter were tumbling over each
other into a deep black pool. The otter escaped
from the dog in the water; but the hole being
only about six feet square, though deep, I took my
retriever out by main force, and waited for the
water to become clear again. When it did so, I
looked for the otter for some time in vain, till at
last, having stooped down close to the pool, I was
startled by seeing his face within a few inches of

48 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII.

my own, his body being almost entirely concealed
by the overhanging bank. I tried to make him
leave his cover, but in vain ; so I sent the dog in
again, who soon found him; and after a short scuffle,
the otter left the pool, and went off along a wide
but shallow drain, and there the battle began again.
The dog, although unable to master the otter, who
was one of the largest size, managed to prevent his
escape, and at last I contrived to end the contest
by a well-applied blow from a piece of railing which
I had picked up.

Otter skins, when well dressed by a skilful
furrier, make a valuable addition to a lady's winter
wardrobe, the under fur being peculiarly soft, silky,
and of a rich brown colour.

I am daily more and more convinced that the
otter is by no means so great an enemy to salmon
as he is supposed to be ; his general food being
trout, eels, and flounders ; although, of course, when
a salmon comes in his way, he is sufficiently an
epicure not to refuse taking it. An otter seldom
kills a salmon without leaving enough of the fish to
betray him, as most people who live near salmon
rivers know full well ; but the remains of the trout
and eels which he kills are not so conspicuous. I
am borne out in this opinion by Mr. Young, the
manager of the Duke of Sutherland's salmon-fish-

NOV. SEALS. 49

ings, whose opportunities of observation, and acute-
ness in judging on all points connected with sub-
jects of this kind, ought to make his favourable
opinion of otters equivalent to a verdict of acquittal
whenever they are accused of being great salmon
destroyers.

The seal, on the contrary, is a constant and
most annoying enemy to the salmon-fisher, breaking
the stake-nets, and enabling the fish who are already
enclosed to escape. Besides which a seal, hunting
along the shore near the nets, drives the salmon
out into the deeper water, beyond the reach of the
fisherman. The seal is also a much more rapid
swimmer than the otter, and I have no doubt that
he can take a salmon by actual speed in the open
sea, although he cunningly prefers catching his
prey with the assistance of the stake-nets, when he
has comparatively little trouble.

I have frequently been told that the seal cannot
remain under water for more than a quarter of an
hour without coming to the surface to breathe.
I am, however, confident that this is not the case,
and that he can continue for hours under the water
when lying undisturbed and at rest. If caught
and entangled in a net he is soon exhausted and
drowned.

I was assured by a man who was constantly in

VOL. II. E

50 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII.

pursuit of seals, that one day, having found a very
young one left by its mother on the rocks, near
Lossiemouth, he put it into a deep round hole full
of water left by the receding tide. For two hours,
during which he waited, expecting to see the old
female come in with the flow of the tide, the little
animal remained, as he expressed it, "like a stone"
at the bottom of the water, without moving or
coming to the surface to breathe. He then took it
out, and found it as well and lively as ever ; and
on turning it loose into the sea it at once began
swimming about with some other young ones.

In a creek of the sea, where I sometimes watch
for seals, I have seen two or three come in with the
flow of the tide. After playing about for a short
time they have disappeared under the water, and
have not shown themselves again till the receding
tide has warned them that it was time to leave the
place. From the situation they were in, and the
calmness of the water, the seals could scarcely have
put up their noses to breathe without my having
seen them. Apparently they sunk to the bottom
in a certain part of the bay, in order to be at rest,
and remained there till the ebb was pretty far
advanced, when they reappeared in the same place
where I had lost sight of them, perhaps, some hours
before. It was a curious and amusing sight to see

NOV. DECREASE OF SEALS. 51

these great creatures swim up within a few yards
of the ambuscade which I had erected close to the
narrow entrance where the tide came in to fill the
bay. At thirty or forty yards distance I found it
impossible to shoot a seal swimming if he had seen
me and was watching my movements : my best
chance always was when the animal, having turned
away, presented the broad back of his head as a
mark to my rifle. If I arrived at the place in time
to do so, I put up some small object at a distance
off, on the side of the inlet opposite to where I was
concealed. This had the effect of distracting the
attention of the animal from his real danger.

A flock of seals playing and fighting on a sand-
bank is one of the drollest sights which I know in
this country. Their uncouth cries and movements
are unlike anything else. In the Dornoch Firth and
near Tain there are still great numbers of them,
and every fine day they are in large flocks on the
sandbanks ; but near this part of the country they
have been very much thinned off, and scarcely any
are killed excepting by myself. My keeper tells
me that when he was a boy their number was very
great, and that the inhabitants of the place could
always kill as many as they wanted for oil, and for
their skins, picking out the largest of the herds
and sparing the smaller ones ; but, alas ! cheap

52 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAPv. CH. XXIII.

guns and salmon-fisheries have combined to make
them scarce. Formerly, also, in the pools left by
the sea within the old bar of Findhorn, numbers of
seals were left at every ebb of the tide, and the
farmers occasionally went down and killed a few
to supply themselves with oil for the winter.

Any unusual number of wild -fowl in the
bay at this season generally prognosticates stormy
weather or snow. On the 27th I saw nearly
fifty wild-swans swimming and flying between this
place and the town of Findhorn ; and some large
flocks of geese were passing over to the south.
The next day the ground was covered with snow,
an unusual occurrence at this season. Of these
swans, one flock of six located themselves in the
fresh- water lakes between this and Nairn, and the
rest wended their way to the south. The Ice-
landers hail the appearance of the wild-swan in the
same manner as we do that of the cuckoo or
swallow, it being with them the foreteller of
spring and genial weather, whilst here they are
connected in our minds with storms and snow-clad
fields.

The Loch of Spynie is another established winter-
ing place of the wild-swan. A few years ago great
numbers remained both in that loch and in Loch
Lee during the whole winter. I know of no other

NOV. GOLDEN PLOVER— MALLARDS. 53

fresh-water lakes in this country where they now
appear regularly. Near Invergordon numbers of
swans feed with other wild-fowl on the sea-grass.

Late in the evening the golden plovers come in
considerable numbers to the bare grass-fields to
feed during the night ; but when the ground is
hardened by frost they resort to the sands at the
ebb-tide, both by night and day. Whilst the tide
is high, these birds fly up to the hills, resting on
those places where the heather is short ; and their
instinct teaches them exactly when to leave the
hills for the sands as soon as the sea has receded
sufficiently ; and yet their principal resting-place
is fully five miles inland.

I have observed the same instinct in the female
sheldrakes when sitting on their eggs. Although
several feet underground they know to a moment
when the tide has sufficiently ebbed, and then,
and only then, do they leave their nest to snatch a
hasty meal on the cockles, etc., which they find
on the sands.

The frost and snow send all the mallards down
from the hill lakes to the bay. I shot a bird exactly
answering to Bewick's description of the dun diver,
excepting that it was much smaller. Bewick
describes his bird as twenty-seven inches in length.
This was only twenty inches. It was apparently

54 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIII.

quite full grown. I shot it whilst it was fishing in
a small stream, and the bird had already swallowed
twenty-five sticklebacks and one small eel. Its
bright red bill is well adapted to hold any fish,
however slippery, being supplied with the sharp
teeth sloping inwards, which are peculiar to birds
of this class.

Hares have a particular fancy for sitting near
houses, undeterred by the noise of the men and
dogs who may inhabit them. When found sitting,
a hare sometimes seems fascinated in an extra-
ordinary manner by the eye of a person looking at
her. As long as you keep your eye fixed on that
of the hare, and approach her from the front, she
appears afraid to move, and, indeed, will sometimes
allow herself to be taken up by the hand. A hare,
when dogs are near her, is particularly unwilling to
start from her form. In cover shooting many of
the old and experienced hares steal off quietly the
moment they hear the sound of dogs or beaters at
one end of the wood ; and thus their quick senses
of hearing and smelling enable them to escape the
guns, however numerous and however well placed.
Shooters in wood pay too little attention to the
direction of the wind. All small game, like deer,
are most unwilling to face an enemy standing
to windward of them ; but keepers either expect, or

NOV.

SHOOTING IN WOOD.

55

pretend to expect, that game will always go exactly
ahead of the beaters, though the least observation
ought to have taught thern the contrary ; for when
once running game have discovered the scent of an
enemy, they will never go in that direction, but
will make their way back in spite of all the noise
and exertions of the beaters.

56 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

CHAPTEE XXIV.

DECEMBER.

Owls ; destruction of Mice by them — Frogs — Snakes — Roe-
bucks— Fondness of Birds for Sunsbine — Loch of Spynie —
Habits of Wild-fowl ; rapidity of their flight— Retrievers —
The Otter ; shooting of, by night — Eley's Cartridges — Wild-
swans — Accidents in Shooting — Variety of Country in
Moray — Forres ; public Walks of — Rabbits — Foxes — Immi-
gration of Birds — Conclusion.

During the clear frosty nights of this month we
hear the owls hooting for hours together in the old
ash-trees around the house. Occasionally they used
to be caught in the pole-traps set for hawks, but the
poor fellows looked so pitiable as they sat upright,
held by the legs, that I took down all these traps,
which were set near the house. And the owl is far
more a friend than an enemy to man : the mischief
he does to game is very trifling ; but the service he
is of to the gardener, the farmer, and even to the
planter of forest trees, by destroying rats and mice,
is incalculable. I have a great liking, too, for the
quaint, old-fashioned looking bird, and by no means
believe him to be the

" Ienavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen."

DEC. OWLS — FROGS. 57

My kitchen-garden was overrun with mice, who not
only ate up peas and other seeds, but also nibbled
and destroyed great numbers of peaches : but since
I have had a tame owl in the garden, the mice have
disappeared entirely, having been destroyed by him
and his relations and friends who visit him at night.
Sometimes an owl, either the common brown one
or else one of the long-eared kind, posts himself all
day long bolt upright in one of the evergreens near
the house. The small birds first point out his
whereabouts, by their clamour and fluttering round
him ; but the owl sits quite unconcerned in the
midst of the uproar, blinking his eyes and nodding
his head as quietly as if in his accustomed seques-
tered thicket or hollow tree.

The long-eared owl, with his bright yellow eyes
and hooked bill, has a most imp-like appearance
when seen sitting motionless on the low branch of
a tree or ivy-covered wall.

The chief food of owls are mice and birds, but
they are also very fond of frogs. When an owl
catches one of these animals, instead of swallowing
it whole, as he does a mouse, he tears it to pieces,
while still alive, in the most cruel manner, regard-
less of its shrill cries.

I have no doubt that were it not for their numer-
ous enemies, such as birds of prey, crows, ravens,

58 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

rats, etc., frogs would increase to such a degree as
to become a serious nuisance. The snake is another
of the frog's devourers. It is a curious, although I
cannot venture to say a pleasant sight, to see one of
these reptiles attack and swallow a living frog, of a
diameter four times as large as its own. After a
frog has been pursued for a short time by a snake
it suddenly seems to be fascinated by the bright
sparkling eye of its enemy, and gives up all attempt
at escape ; then the snake, with a motion so rapid
that the eye cannot keep pace with it, darts on its
unhappy prey, generally seizing it by the hind-leg.
There now commences a struggle for life and death,
the frog clinging pertinaciously to any branch or
projection which it can reach with its fore-legs ; but
all in vain ; for the snake quietly but surely, by a
kind of muscular contraction, or suction, gradually
draws the frog into its mouth, its jaws expanding
and stretching in the most extraordinary and incon-
ceivable manner, in order to admit of the dispro-
portioned mouthful.

I have little doubt that many birds and other
animals are in reality fascinated by the fixed gaze of
a snake, when they once come under the immediate
influence of his eye. Their presence of mind and
power of escape, or even of moving, seems entirely
to desert them when their enemy is near them, and

DEC. ROEBUCKS — BLACKCOCKS. 59

they become so paralysed with fear, that the snake
has nothing to do hut to seize them. Any person
who has seen one of our common snakes swallow a
large frog will readily believe all accounts of deer
being swallowed by the giant-serpent of the East.

Early in December the roebucks lose their horns.
I have shot them during the first week of this month
with the horns so loose that they have fallen off as
the animal was carried home. They are, however,
in as good or perhaps even better order for the
table in December than at any other time.

The roe being very much disturbed by wood-
cutters in most of our woods, keep to the wild
rough extent of cover, too young for the axe, which
lies between the upper country and the shore ; there
they live in tolerable security, in company with the
foxes, black game, and wild-fowl which tenant the
woods and swamps of that district. Occasionally,
whilst I am woodcock-shooting, a roe affords a
pleasant variety and weighty addition to the game-
bag. All my dogs, whether pointers, spaniels, ter-
riers, or retrievers, become very eager when on the
scent of roe.

The blackcocks, like other birds, are very fond of
catching the last evening rays of a winter's sun, and
are always to be found in the afternoon on banks
facing the west, or swinging, if there is no wind, on

60 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. GH. XXIV.

the topmost branch of the small fir-trees. On the
mountains, too, all birds, as the sun gets low, take
to the slopes which face the west ; whilst in the
morning they betake themselves to the eastern
banks and slopes to meet his rays. No bird or
animal is to be found in the shade during the
winter, unless it has flown there for shelter from
some imminent danger.

This is very remarkable in the case of the golden
plovers, who in the evening ascend from slope to
slope as each becomes shaded by intervening
heights, until they all are collected on the very
last ridge which the sun shines upon. When this
is no longer illuminated, and the sun is quite below
the horizon, they betake themselves to their feed-
ing-places near the sea-shore or elsewhere. Goats
have the same habit.

There is no fresh-water lake which has so large a
quantity of wild-fowl on it as the Loch of Spynie ;
and I do not know a more amusing sight than the
movements and proceedings of the thousands of
birds collected there during this season. All wild-
fowl, from the swan to the teal, swarm on this lake ;
and it is most interesting to see the habits and
manners of feeding and of passing their time of the
different kinds, some feeding only by night and
others moving about at all hours. On the approach

DEC. HABITS OF WILD-FOWL. 61

of night, however, the whole community becomes
restless and on the move, and the place is alive with
the flocks flying to and fro, all uttering their peculiar
notes, and calling to each other, as they pass from
one part of the loch to another. The mallards for
the most part take to the fields in search of food,
flying either in pairs or in small flocks of five or six.
The widgeon keep in companies of ten or twelve,
whistling constantly to each other as they fly to feed
on the grassy edges of the lochs. The teal and
some other birds feed chiefly on the mud-banks and
shallows which abound in parts of this half-drained
lake; and amongst the loose stones of the old castle
of Spynie, which overlooks it, and where formerly
proud ecclesiastics trod, the badger has now taken
up his solitary dwelling.

The flight of wild-fowl in the evening is more
rapid in reality than it appears to be ; and I have
seen many a good shot fairly puzzled by it, and
unable to kill these birds at this period of the day
with any certainty until practice had taught them
the necessity of aiming well ahead. Another great
requisite to success in wild-fowl shooting is a first-
rate retriever, quick and sagacious in finding and
bringing the killed and wounded birds from the
swampy and grassy places in which they fall. Long-
shots ought never to be taken in the evening, as,

62 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

independently of the time lost in loading (during
which operation, by the by, the birds always con-
trive to come over your head) you are sure to lose
many which fly away wounded, to drop several
hundred yards off, serving only to feed the foxes
and crows, which always seem to be on the look-
out for food near lakes and marshes.

Some retrievers have a most wonderful instinct
in discovering whether a wounded bird is likely to
fall ; invariably marking down and finding them,
without wasting their time and strength in vain
pursuit of those which are able to escape.

Nothing is more trying to the constitution of a
dog than this kind of shooting in the winter, when
the poor animal spends his time either in paddling
or swimming about in half-frozen water, or in
shivering at his master's feet whilst waiting for a
fresh shot. The master perhaps has waterproof
boots and a warm jacket on, a pipe in his mouth,
and a mouthful of brandy to keep him warm; while
his poor dog has none of these accompanying com-
forts, and is made to sit motionless on the wet or
frozen ground with the water freezing on his coat.
For my own part I administer as much as I can to
the comfort of my canine companion, by always
carrying him some biscuits, and by giving him either
my plaid or a game-bag to lie upon. It is amusing

DEC. RETRIEVERS — WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 63

enough to see the retriever wrapped in the plaid,
with only his head out of it, watching eagerly for
the appearance of a flock of widgeon or ducks,
which he often sees before I do myself.

The best and most sagacious dog of this kind that
I ever saw, and whose cunning and skill were un-
equalled, I sold to make room for a stronger re-
triever, who however never equalled his predecessor
in sagacity and usefulness. I the less repented
having parted with the dog, as he fell into the
hands of a friend of mine, Captain Cumming, a most
excellent shot and persevering wild-fowl shooter,
who fully appreciated the good qualities of the
animal. The Loch of Spynie belonging principally
to this gentleman's family, he preserves the place
strictly ; and I do not know so successful a wild-
fowl shooter — successful I mean in a gentlemanly
and sportsmanlike manner — and with what I term
fair shooting. With due deference to the followers
of this sport, I cannot include under that denomina-
tion the punt and swivel-gun system. Amongst
other objections to this kind of sport is the vast
number of birds maimed, wounded, and left to
perish miserably, or to feed crows and other vermin.
Not even Colonel Hawker's amusing; work on the
subject reconciles me to this (proh pudor !) his
favourite branch of sport.

64 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

In the snow I constantly see the tracks of
weasels and stoats going for considerable distances
along the edges of open ditches and streams, where
they search not only for any birds which may be
roosting on the grassy banks of the ditches, but also
for eels and whatever fish they can make prey of.

The otters, too, puzzled by the accumulation of
ice and frozen snow on the shallows, and about the
mouth of the river, go for miles up any open ditch
they can find ; turning up the unfrozen mud in
search of eels, and then rolling on the snow to
clean themselves.

There are few animals whose scent is so attractive
to dogs of all kinds as the otter ; but it requires that
they should have great experience in order to be
sure of finding an otter, or of following with any
certainty when started, so strange and well con-
cealed are the nooks and corners of broken banks
and roots under which it lies or takes refuge when
hunted.

My old keeper has great delight in the pursuit of
otters, and continually neglects his more legitimate
duties for the sake of getting a midnight shot at one
of these animals. Having carefully determined on
the way from which the wind blows, and made him-
self sure that no eddy of air can carry his own scent
towards the stream, the old man sits well concealed

DEC. eley's cartridges. 65

under a projecting bank near some shallow ford,
where he expects the otter will appear on his way
up or down the burn. This plan seldom fails, and
he not unfrequently makes his appearance in the
morning with a dead otter in his hand, the result of
many hours of patient watching in a winter's night,
of which the disordered and somewhat bemudded
appearance of his habiliments bears further witness.
I cannot plead guilty of ever sending him on these
expeditions. In the first place, I have no very
deadly feud with the otters ; and, in the next, I
think that the old fellow would be better in his
l^ed than squatting under a broken bank through
a long winter's night.

Though not an advocate for Eley's cartridges for
game -shooting, I use a great number of them
against stronger animals, such as otters, foxes, and
roe, and also for wild-fowl shooting of all kinds.
In steady hands these cartridges undoubtedly do
great execution amongst ducks and geese, but they
are very apt to induce the sportsman to take shots
which are too long and random, conceiving that no
distance is too great for this kind of charge. That
they very frequently do not open at all, or at any
rate sufficiently soon, I have clearly ascertained ;
and I have often found in shooting roe and hares
that the cartridge has passed through the animal

VOL. II. F

66 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

like a single ball. Every sportsman knows that
this will not answer his purpose in general shoot-
ing ; and, therefore, that Eley's cartridges should
only be used in the most open places, and at strong
birds and animals.

The wild-swans still remain feeding in the lakes,
and seem to have completely made themselves at
home ; going lazily off to the bay when disturbed,
but seldom taking the trouble to do so unless the
particular loch which they frequent, and in which
they feed, comes within the line of my beat for wild-
ducks. When their territory is invaded they first
collect in a close body, and after a short conference,
flap along the water for some distance, and gradu-
ally rising fly across the sandhills with loud cries
to the sea. Hundreds of ducks of all kinds con-
stantly attend on the swans when feeding, to snatch
at the water-grasses and weeds pulled up by the
long-necked birds from the bottom of the shallow
water — a proceeding the swans seem by no means
to approve of, as they evidently have no wish to
labour for the good of these active little pirates.

It has often occurred to me how perfectly help-
less a man would be were he to lame himself during
the distant and lonely wanderings on the mountain,
which the pursuit of deer and wild-game sometimes
leads him into ; and I was forcibly reminded of

DEC. ACCIDENT IN ROE-SHOOTING. 67

this by a curious accident which happened to
myself in the woods of Altyre while roe -shooting
this month.

The hounds were in pursuit of a roe ; and I was
partly occupied in listening to their joyous cry, and
partly in admiring the beautiful light thrown by
the low rays of the winter sun on the bright trunks
of the fir-trees, contrasted as it was with the gloomy
darkness of their foliage, when I heard the foot of a
roe as it came towards me, ventre a terre. Taking
a cool aim I sent a cartridge through the poor ani-
mal's head, who, of course, fell rolling over like a
rabbit. I went up in order to bleed her, according
to rule, when, just as I was knife in hand, I heard
the hounds coming up in chase of another roe. I
dropped the knife on the heather, and at that instant
the dying roe gave an expiring plunge, as animals
almost always do when shot in the head. Her hind
foot struck the hilt of the couteau de chasse, driving
it straight into my foot. Having, not without some
little difficulty, drawn it out, I had next to cut off
my shoe, when the blood came out like a jet d'eau.
Making a tourniquet of my handkerchief and a bit
of stick, I managed to stop the bleeding, not, how-
ever, before I began to feel a little faint. Then not
waiting for my companions, who were at a distant
part of the woods, I hobbled off to a forester's

68 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

house, where I rebound the cut, and having directed
the man where to find the roe, and to tell the other
shooters that I had left the woods, I made my way
homewards as well as I could, and, luckily meet-
ing on the road one of my servants exercising a
pony, I got home without more inconvenience, but
I had to pass many a long day upon a sofa. Had
a similar accident happened on some of the wild and
distant mountains of the country where I often
shoot, I should probably not have been seen again,
till the ravens and the storms of winter had left
nothing but my bones. From such slight and
trivial causes do accidents sometimes happen to
remind us how helpless we all are.

In the low parts of Morayshire the snow seldom
lies long, and consequently after every lengthened
snow-storm there is a constant migration not only
of wild-fowl of all kinds, but also of partridges and
other game, who come down to the bay and shore
from the higher parts of the district, where the
ground is more completely covered with snow, the
depth of which increases gradually as one recedes
from the shore.

A more strikingly varied drive of twenty miles
can scarcely be taken than from the Spey at Gran-
town down to Forres on the sea-side near the
mouth of the Findhorn river. After emerging

DEC. GRANTOWN TO FORRES. 69

from the woods of Castle Grant, in the immediate
vicinity of the Spey, and that curiously-built place
Grantown, with its wide street of houses, almost
wholly inhabited by Grants, which appellation with
every variety of Christian name is written at least
on nine houses out of every ten, the traveller comes
out on the extended flats and moors of the district
round Brae Moray, where there is scarcely a sign
of life, animal or human ; excepting when a grouse
rises from the edge of the road, or runs with comb
and head erect a few yards into the heather, and
then crouches till the intruder has passed by.
There is, I admit, a turnpike house here, but it is
a wretched-looking affair, and its tenant must live
a life as solitary as a lighthouse -keeper. After
several miles of this most dreary though not very
elevated range, the road enters the woods and for
a long distance passes through a succession or
rather one continued tract of fine fir-trees. It goes
through the beautiful grounds of Altyre, and along
the banks of the most picturesque part of the
Findhorn; and gradually descending it opens upon
the rich fields and firth of Moray, with the moun-
tains of Eoss, Caithness, and Sutherland — a glori-
ous range — in the background : a great and most
pleasing change from the dreary brown moorland
near Brae Moray. Having passed through this

70 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

long and varied tract of woodland, the road sud-
denly emerges into the rich open corn-land of the
most fertile district in Scotland, near the bay of
Findhorn, where the river, as if tired by its long
and rapid course, gradually and slowly mixes itself
with the salt water of the Moray Firth. By
crossing the river near this spot, another very
different kind of country is reached — the strange
sandhills of Findhorn or Culbin. Thus, in a
very few hours' drive as great a variety of country
is passed through as could be found in any part
of the island, each portion of which is character-
istic and interesting.

Forres itself is one of the prettiest and cleanest
little towns in the kingdom. The entrance from
the river Findhorn is extremely picturesque ; and
the bright sparkling burn, with the public bleach-
ing-green close to the town, always gives it a gay
and lively appearance. The town magistrates, too,
with public-spirited zeal, have laid out pleasure-
grounds and walks on the wooded hill above the
town, which, as regards the views which they com-
mand of rich cultivated land, are probably not sur-
passed by any in the kingdom.

During the time that the snow remained on the
ground the rabbits in a wood near my house took
to barking the fine old hollies, thus destroying trees

DEC. FOXES AND RABBITS. 71

of a very great age, and of from eight to ten inches
in diameter. Oaks also, of twenty years' growth,
are frequently destroyed by these animals. In fact,
wherever they once establish themselves they over-
run the country and become a nuisance. In the
sandhills of Culbin I admit that they can do but
small mischief, there being in that region little else
but bent, sea- weed, and furze-bushes. They thrive,
however, on this food, and in spite of foxes and
guns keep up their numbers sufficiently to afford
plenty of sport. The foxes are numerous in the
rough wild district which lies to the west of the
sandhills, and hunt regularly for rabbits wherever
they abound. From their tracks it is evident that
two foxes constantly hunt together ; and they take
different sides of every hillock.

If a fox finds a rabbit at a sufficient distance
from the cover, he catches it by fair running ; but
most of his prey he obtains by dint of the number-
less stratagems which have earned for him a famous,
or rather an infamous, reputation from time imme-
morial. From what I have myself seen of the cun-
ning of the fox, I can believe almost any story of
his power of deceiving and inveigling animals into
his clutches. Nor does his countenance belie him ;
for handsome animal as he certainly is, his face is
the very type and personification of cunning.

72 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

The cottagers who live near the woods are con-
stantly complaining of the foxes, who steal their
fowls frequently in broad daylight, carrying them
off before the faces of the women, but never com-
mitting themselves in this way when the men are at
home. From the quantity of debris of fowls, ducks,
etc., which are strewed here and there near the
abodes of these animals, the mischief they do in
this way must be very great.

Cunning, however, as they are, I not unfre-
quently put them up while walking through the
swamps. They lie, in fancied security, on some
dry tuft of heather in the midst of the pools ;
and not expecting or being accustomed to be dis-
turbed, they remain there until my retriever
raises them close to my feet. One fine day, in the
beginning of this month, when the sun was bright
and warm, a setter who was with me made a
very singular kind of point in the long heather,
looking round at me with an air most expressive
of " Come and see what I have here." As soon
as I got near the dog made a rush into the rough
heather, putting out a large dog fox, who had
been napping or basking. The fox made a bolt
almost between my legs to get at a hole near the
place ; but I stopped him with a charge of duck
shot : the dog, though as steady as possible at all

DEC. END OF SOJOUEN IN MORAY. 73

game, pursued the fox full cry, and when he
rolled over, worried and shook him, as a bull-dog
would a cat.

December, in this part of the island, is seldom a
very cold or boisterous month ; our principal storms
of snow and wind come with the new year. Fre-
quently, indeed, there is no covering of snow on that
part of the county which lies within the influence
of the sea-air till February.

During the first days of snow and storm a con-
stant immigration of larks takes place, these birds
continuing to arrive from seaward during the whole
day, and frequently they may be heard flying in
after it is dark. They come flitting over in a con-
stant straggling stream, not in compact flocks ; and
pitching on the first piece of ground which they find
uncovered with snow, immediately begin searching
for food, feeding indiscriminately on insects, small
seeds, and even on turnip leaves, when nothing else
can be found.

The wagtails frequent the sheepfolds near the
shore, and keep up an active search for the insects
which are found about these animals.

And now having brought my readers (if the
patience of any of them has enabled them to follow

74 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXIV.

me so far) to the end of the year, and of my
sojourn in Moray, I must say — Farewell.

I have aimed neither at book-making nor at
giving a scientific description or arrangement of
birds and other animals. All I wish is that my
rough and irregularly put together notes may afford
a few moments of amusement to the old ; and to
the young not amusement only, but perhaps an in-
citement to them to increase their knowledge of
natural history, the study of which in all its
branches renders interesting and full of enjoyment
many a ramble and many an hour in the country
which might otherwise be passed tediously and
unprofitable We all know that there is scarcely
a foot of ground that is not tenanted by some
living creature, which, though it may offer itself
to our observation in the lowly shape of an insect
or even a minute shell, is as perfect in all its
features and parts, in its habits and instincts, and
as demonstrative of the surpassing wisdom and
power and goodness of the Creator, as the most
gigantic quadruped which walks the earth.

Again, kind readers, Farewell !

DEERSTALKING.

Dead Stag and Eagles.

Vol. ii. p. 77.]

DEER-STALKING.

CHAPTEE XXV.

Deer-stalking ; enjoyment of — Fine Stag ; ill-luck in stalking ;
escapes of Stag ; start in pursuit of him — View of Country
— Eoebucks — Hare and Marten — Tracks of Deer ; find the
Stag ; death of — Meet the Shepherd — Cottage.

Though we are all naturally gregarious animals,
much pleasure is often derived from a lonely walk
over mountain and moor, when, independent of
the wishes or movements of any one else, we can
go hither and thither as the objects or the fancy
of the moment may lead us. In following up my
sporting excursions I frequently prefer being alone,
and independent of either friend or keeper ; not
from any disinclination to the society of my fellow-
men — far from it — but from a liking to watch and
observe the habits and proceedings of many of the
living animals of the country. Now one's friend
may become bored by being carried off from his
shooting, and being hampered by the movements
of another person whose attention for the time being

78 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

is taken up in following some bird or beast not
included in the game-book, and therefore not
deemed worthy of notice during the shooting season.
If my own larder or that of my friend is in want
of replenishing, I can fill it as well and quickly as
most people ; but at other times I like to take my
shooting quietly. In deer-stalking the solitary
sportsman has often great advantages, though his
enjoyment of the sport is much enhanced by the
thought that he has some friend, some " fidus
Achates," to whom he can relate the incidents of
the day, and who, following the same pursuits, will
enjoy and appreciate the account of the pains and
fatigues he has undergone before bringing down
the noble animal whose horns he exhibits in
triumph. Much of my deer-stalking time was
spent alone, or at most with no companionship save
that of an ancient and experienced Highlander, or
a chance visitor — some travelling laird or sports-
man— who was as glad to receive as I was to give
provend and rest for himself and horses. From
these circumstances I got into the habit of sketch-
ing off an account of my day's wanderings, when
they had been of that kind that I felt I might say
to myself " forsan et hsec olim meminisse juvabit."
I had more than once seen in a particular corrie,
or not far from it, a remarkably fine stag : his horns,

CH. XXV. FINE STAG. 79

though not peculiarly long, were heavy and large,
with ten points well and evenly set on, of a dark
colour, and the points as white as ivory. The
animal himself was evidently of very great size
and age, and in fine condition. He lived quite
alone, and did not seem to associate with any
of the other deer who frequented that district,
although I once saw him rise and trot off, warned
by the movement of a herd of hinds ; and at
another time he rose unexpectedly on my firing at
two stags in a corrie : still on neither of these
occasions, nor at any other time, did he appear to
be lying in company with the other deer, although
not above half a mile from them, nor did he join
them in their flight when moved. Instead of this
he invariably trotted off sulkily ; and if I chanced
to fall in with his track again, it was still solitary,
and speeding in a direct course over bog and hill
to some far off mountain glen or corrie. The
shepherds, who generally gave me notice of any par-
ticularly fine stag they might see in their rounds,
distinguished tins one by a Gaelic name, signifying
the big red stag, as, besides his other attributes, his
colour was of a peculiarly bright red. Donald
and I had made an unsuccessful raid or two into
the red stag's country, some unforeseen or un-
guarded against circumstance always warning him

80 DEER -STALKING. CH. XXV.

of our neighbourhood too soon ; besides which he
had a troublesome habit of suddenly rising in the
most unaccountable manner from some unexpected
corner or hollow. We might examine long and
carefully the whole face of a hill, and having made
ourselves perfectly sure that nothing larger than a
mountain hare could be concealed on its surface,
up would rise the red stag from some trifling
hollow, or from behind some small hillock, and,
without looking to the right or left, off he would go
at his usual trot, till we lost him in the distance.
At another time, after we had beat, as we im-
agined, a whole wood, so that we were convinced that
neither deer nor roe could have been passed over, up
would get the stag out of some clump of larch or
birch, apparently scarcely big enough to hold a hare.
Or else he would rise at the very feet of one of the
beaters, and though not above a hundred yards
from the corner where I was posted he always
managed to turn back, perhaps almost running
over some man who had no gun : but he invariably
escaped being shot at, excepting on one occasion,
when I placed a friend who was with me near a
pass by which the stag sometimes left a favourite
wood. I had stationed the shooter at the distance of
half a mile from the wood, as the deer was always
most careful of himself, and most suspicious of

CH. XXV. START IN PURSUIT. 81

danger, when he first left the cover. On this occa-
sion, according to my friend's account, the great
beast had trotted quickly and suddenly past him
at eighty yards' distance, and took no notice of the
barrels discharged at his broadside, though fired by
a very good shot, and out of a first-rate Manton
gun that carried ball like a rifle. My friend could
not account for missing him ; but missed he evi-
dently was.

I determined one day to start off alone in pur-
suit of this stag, and to pay no attention to any
other deer I might see during my excursion.
Donald's orders were to meet me at a particular
rock, about eight miles from home, the next day
at two o'clock ; my intention being, in the event of
my not returning the same night, to work my way
to a distant shepherd's house, and there to sleep.
Donald had directions as to the line by which he
was to come, that he might not disturb one or two
favourite corries ; and he was also to bring a
setter and my shooting apparatus, as I took with
me only a single-barrel rifle and a few bullets.
I did not take Bran, as, being alone, I could not
be quite sure that he would not be in my way
when getting up to the deer, in case I found
him ; but I took a dog of a very different kind —
a powerful bulldog, who was well accustomed to

VOL. II. G

82 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

deer-stalking, and who would lie down for an
hour together if desired to do so, without moving
an inch.

On leaving the house at daybreak, or at least
before the sun was risen, I struck off in a straight
line through the woods, till, having got through
the whole cover, I sat myself down on the top
of what was called the Eagle's Craig, and turned,
for the first time that morning, to the east to look
at the sun, which was now rising in its utmost
glory and brightness, — a glorious sight, and one
that loses not its interest though seen each
returning day, particularly when viewed from the
lonely places either of land or sea : below me lay
a great extent of pine-wood, concealing the house
and the cultivated land around it, with the excep-
tion of a glimpse caught here and there of the
bright green meadow which formed the banks of
the river. The river itself was visible through
many openings, and where the outline of the trees
was lower than in other places : beyond the river
rose a black-looking moorland, which, growing
gradually higher and higher, terminated in moun-
tains with a most varied and fantastic outline
of peaks and precipices, the stony sides of which
were lighted up by the rising sun, and exhibited
a strong contrast to the deep colour of the hills

CH. XXV. VIEW 0E COUNTRY — ROEBUCKS. 83

below them, covered with dark heather, and not
yet reached by the sun's rays.

On the other side the ground was of quite a
different character : immediately on leaving the
wood, the country for some distance had a dreary
cold look, being covered not with heather, but
with a kind of gray grass, called there deer's grass,
which grows only in cold swampy ground. Here
and there this was varied by ranges of greystone
and rock, and dotted with numerous lochs. In
the distance to the west I could see the upper
part of a favourite rocky corrie, the sun shining
brightly on its gray rocks : a little to my right
the fir- woods terminated, but on that side, between
me and the river, of which every bend and reach
was there in full view, were numerous little
hillocks with birch-trees, old and rugged, grow-
ing on them : here and there, too, amongst these
hillocks, was a great round gray rock, and the
whole of this rough ground was intersected with
bright green glades. Some three miles up the
river a blue line of smoke ascended perpendicu-
larly in the still morning, the chimney it came
from being concealed by a group of birch-trees.

I looked carefully with my glass at all the nooks
and grassy places to see if any deer were feeding
about them, but could see nothing but two or three

84 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

old roe. A moment after a pair of young roe
walked quietly out of some concealed hollow, and
after gazing about a short time and having a game
of romps on the top of a hillock, were joined by
their mother, and then all three came into the
woods at the foot of the craig where I was sitting.
The grouse were calling to each other in all direc-
tions, and every now and then an old cock-bird
would take a short fly, crowing, to some stone or
hillock, where he stood and sunned himself. I
was struck just then by the curious proceedings
of a mountain-hare, who had been feeding about
two hundred yards from me ; she suddenly began
to show symptoms of uneasiness and fear, taking
short runs and then stopping, and turning her
ears towards the hillside behind her. I soon saw
the cause of her alarm in a beautiful marten cat :
the latter, however, having probably already made
her morning meal, took little notice of the hare,
but came with quiet leaps straight towards me.
As I was well concealed amongst the gray frag-
ments of rock which covered the top of the craig,
and which were exactly the same colour as the
clothes I was dressed in, the little animal did
not see me. When about thirty yards off she
suddenly stopped and looked in my direction,
having evidently become aware, through some

CH. XXV. TRACKS OF DEER. 85

of her fine senses, of the vicinity of an enemy.
She offered me a fair shot, and, well aware of the
quantity of game killed by these animals, I sent
a rifle-ball right into her yellow chest as she sat
upright with her head turned towards me.

But time advanced, so I delayed no longer, and
started off in a westerly direction. Many a weary
mile did I tramp that day without seeing anything
but grouse, and an occasional hare. Nevertheless
I saw many fresh tracks of red-deer : particularly
crossing one mossy piece of ground, where there
appeared to have been at least twenty or thirty deer,
and amongst them one or two large fine stags. In
one place I saw a solitary track of a noble stag, but
it was two or three days old. I judged that the herd
whose tracks I saw had a good chance of being in
or about a corrie, a good view of which I should get
from the next height ; but after a long and tiresome
survey of the ground I could see no living creature,
excepting a heron, who was standing in his usual
disconsolate attitude on a stone in the burn that ran
out of the corrie, adding by his very presence to the
solitude of the scene. " I don't understand where
these deer can be," was my internal ejaculation,
" but here they are not ; so come on, good dog."
Another and another height did I pass over, and
many a glen did I scan inch by inch till my eyes

86 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

ached with straining through the glass : nothing

could I see, and I began to think to myself that

as it was past two and the shepherd's house was

some three hours' walk, I had better turn off in

that direction ; so slanting my course a little to

the north, I pulled my plaid tight round me and

walked on. In deer-stalking, as much as in the

every-day pursuits of life, the old adage holds

good —

Credula vitam
Spes fovet.

And this said hope carries the weary stalker over
many a long mile. I came in half an hour to a
large extent of heather-covered ground, interspersed
with a great number of tumulus-shaped hillocks. I
looked carelessly over these, when my eye was sud-
denly attracted by a red-coloured spot on one of the
mounds. I turned the glass in that direction, and
at once saw that it was a large bright-coloured
stag with fine antlers, and altogether an animal
worth some trouble. He was in a very difficult
situation to approach. He commanded a complete
view of the face of the hill opposite to him, and
over the summit of which I was looking, and I was
astonished he had not observed me, notwithstand-
ing all my care. As the wind blew, I could not
approach him from the opposite direction, even if I

CH. XXV. APPROACH THE STAG. 87

had time to get round there before he rose ; and I
knew that once on foot to feed, his direction would
be so uncertain amongst the mounds where he
was, that my chance would be small.

After a short survey I started off at my best
pace to the right, thinking that from the nature
of the ground I might succeed in getting into the
valley unobserved ; and once there, by taking
advantage of some hillock, I should have a toler-
able chance of approaching him. After what
appeared to me a long tramp I came to a slight
rise of the shoulder of the hill : beyond this was
a hollow, by keeping in which I hoped to get
down unobserved. It was already past three,
but the stag had not yet moved ; so, keeping the
tops of his horns in view, I began to crawl over
the intervening height. At two or three places
which I tried I saw that I could not succeed.
At last I came to a more favourable spot ; but I
saw that it still would not do, however well the
dog behaved, and a capital stalker he was, imitating
and following every movement of mine, crouching
when I crouched, and crawling when I crawled.
I did not wish to leave him quite so far from the
deer, so I made another cast, and this time found
a place over which we both wriggled ourselves
quite unseen. Thank God ! was my exclamation,

88 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

as I found myself in a situation again where I
could stand upright. Few people excepting deer-
stalkers know the luxury of occasionally standing
upright, after having wormed oneself horizonally
along the ground for some time. There were the
horns with their white tips still motionless, except-
ing when he turned back his head to scratch his
hide or knock off a fly. I now walked easily with-
out stooping till I was within three or four hund-
red yards of him, when I was suddenly pulled up
by finding that there was no visible manner of
approaching a yard nearer. The last sheltering
mound was come to ; and although these mounds
from a distance looked scattered closely, when I got
amongst them I found they were two or three rifle-
shots apart at the nearest. There was one chance
that occurred to me : a rock or rather stone lay
about eighty yards from the stag, and it seemed
that I might make use of this as a screen, so as, if
my luck was great, to get at the animal. I took off
my plaid, laid it on the ground, and ordered the
dog to lie still on it ; then buttoning my jacket
tightly, and putting a piece of cork, which I carried
for the purpose, into the muzzle of my rifle to pre-
vent the dirt getting into it, I started in the most
snakelike attitude that the human frame would
admit of. I found that by keeping perfectly flat,

CH. XXV. DEATH OF THE STAG. 89

and not even looking up once, I could still get on
unobserved. Inch by inch I crawled : as I neared
the stone my task was easier, as the ground sank
a little and the heather was longer. At last I
reached the place, and saw the tips of his horns
not above eighty yards from me. I had no fear
of losing him now ; so, taking out the cork from
my rifle, I stretched my limbs one by one, and
prepared to rise to an attitude in which I could
shoot ; then, pushing my rifle slowly forward, I
got the barrel over the stone unperceived, and rose
very gradually on one knee. The stag seemed
to be intent in watching the face of the opposite
hill, and, though I was partially exposed, did not
see me : his attitude was very favourable, which
is seldom the case when a stag is lying down ; so,
taking a deliberate aim at his shoulder, I was on
the point of firing, when he suddenly saw me,
and, jumping up, made off as hard as he could.
He went in a slanting direction, and before he
had gone twenty yards I fired. I was sure that
I was steady on him, but the shot only seemed
to hurry his pace ; on he went like an arrow out
of a bow, having showed no symptom of being
hurt beyond dropping his head for a single
moment.

I remained motionless in despair : a more mag-

90 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

nificent stag I had never seen, and his bright red
colour and white-tipped horns showed me that he
was the very animal I had so often seen and wished
to get. He ran on without slackening his pace for
at least a hundred yards, then suddenly fell with
a crash to the ground, his horns rattling against
the stones. I knew he was perfectly dead, so,
calling the dog, ran up to him. The stag was
quite motionless, and lay stretched out where he
fell, without a single struggle. I found on open-
ing him that the ball had passed through the
lower part of his heart — a wound I should have
imagined sufficient to have deprived any animal
of life and motion instantaneously. But I have
shot several deer through the heart, and have
observed that when hit low they frequently ran
from twenty to eighty yards. If, however, the
ball has passed through the upper part of the
heart, or has cut the large blood-vessels imme-
diately above it, death has been instantaneous,
the animal dropping without a struggle.

Having duly admired and examined the poor
stag, not, I must own, without feeling compunction
at having put an end to his life, I set to work bleed-
ing and otherwise preparing him for being left on
the hill till the next day, secure from attacks of
ravens and eagles ; then, having taken my land-

CH. XXV. MEET THE SHEPHERD. 91

marks so as to be sure of finding him again, I
started on my march to the shepherd's house, look-
ing rather anxiously round at the increasing length
of my shadow and the diminished height of the
sun; the more so as I had to pass some very boggy
ground with which I was not very well acquainted.
I had not gone a quarter of a mile, however, when
I saw the shepherd himself making his way
homewards. I gave a loud whistle to catch his
attention, and, having joined him, I took him back
to show the exact place where the stag was lying,
in order to save myself the trouble of returning
the next clay. Malcolm was rather an ally of
mine, and his delight was great at seeing the stag.

" 'Deed, ay, sir ; it's just the muckle red stag
himsel' ; mony a time I've seen the bonny beast.
Save us ! how red his pile is !"

" Yes, he is a fine beast, Malcolm ; and you
must bring your gray pony for him to-morrow. I
must have the head and one haunch down to the
house ; take the rest to your mother ; I dare say
she can salt it."

I knew pretty well that this good lady must
have had some experience in making red-deer hams,
unless Malcolm was very much slandered by his
neighbours ; nevertheless he had promised me not
to poach on my ground, and knowing that I trusted

92 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

quite to his honour, I believe that he neither did
so himself nor allowed any one else to do so.

" You are ower good, your Honour ; and the
mither will be glad of a bit venison ; it's a long
time now since I killed a deer."

" When was the last, Malcolm ? " I asked.

" Why, mony a day, sir ; but, to tell the truth,
it is only yesterday since I shot at one."

" And where was that, Malcolm ?"

" Why, if your Honour wishes to know, and I
am sure you will do no ill turn to a lad for taking
a shoot, I'll just tell you."

I could not help smiling at Malcolm's describing
himself as a lad. He was six feet three inches with-
out his shoes, and a perfect giant in every propor-
tion, but strong and active withal, and a capital
stalker, being able to wind his great body about
through moss and heather in a manner that was
quite marvellous. Malcolm's account, then, was,
that a shepherd on an adjoining property, or rather
on one divided from where we were by a long lake,
had asked him to come up some evening with his
gun to " fieg " some deer that had been destroying
his little crop of oats. Well, Malcolm had gone ;
and the evening before I met him he had fired in
the dusk at a stag with a handful of large slugs ;
the deer was hit and crippled, but had thrown

CH. XXV. SHEPHERD'S COTTAGE. 93

out the colley dogs, which had pursued him, by
taking to the water and apparently swimming the
loch. If he had managed to cross he would be on
my side of it, and I might by chance fall in with
him on my return home the next day in some of
the burns and glens through which I should have
to walk. I did not blame Malcolm much, knowing
the mischief done by deer to the shepherds' little
crops ; besides which the ground where he had shot
this stag was not preserved or used as a forest by
the owner.

We had a weary walk, though enlivened by
Malcolm's quaint remarks. Without his company
and guidance I saw plainly that I should have had
some difficulty in finding my way through the
rough ground over which we had to pass. The
night, too, had come on quite dark before we
reached the shealing.

On entering I was much struck by the group
which we saw by the light of several splinters of
bog-fir laid on a stone. Malcolm's old father, a
man whose years numbered at least fourscore, was
reading a chapter of the Bible in Gaelic to the rest
of his family, which consisted of his wife, a woman
of nearly equal age to himself, but hale, neat, and
vigorous, and of a sister and brother of Malcolm's :
the former a peculiarly pretty, though somewhat

94 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXV.

extensive damsel ; and the latter a giant like Mal-
colm himself, equally good-looking, and equally
respected in his own rank of life. The old man
having looked off his book for a moment, without
pausing in his reading, continued his chapter. Fol-
lowing Malcolm's example, I took off my cap, and
sat down on a chest in the room, and though of
course not understanding a word of what was read,
instead of being inclined to smile at the peculiar
twang and bagpipe-like drawl with which the old
man read, I was struck by the appearance of real
devotion and reverence of the whole group, and
looked on with feelings of interest and respect till
he came to the end of a somewhat lengthy chapter.
This finished, the old man, resting his head on his
hands, which his long gray hair entirely covered,
uttered a short prayer in the same language. The
moment this was done he handed the Bible to his
daughter, who, wiping it with her apron, deposited
it in' a chest. I was then received with great
kindness, and preparations were made for Mal-
colm's and my supper, which consisted of tea, oat-
cake, eggs, and some kippered trout, caught in a
stream running out of the large loch, and which
when alive must have weighed at least twelve
pounds : such cream and milk, too, as is met with,
or at any rate enjoyed, only in the Highlands.

CH. XXV.

OLD SHEPHERD.

95

With great discretion the old people talked to me
but little during the meal, seeing that I was tired
and hungry ; but over the glass of capital toddy
which succeeded the tea I had many a question to
answer respecting the killing of the stag, etc.
The old lady spoke very little English, but under-
stood it well enough. The old shepherd listened
with great interest, the more so from having been
a somewhat famous stalker in his own time, and
now a great lamenter of the good old time when
deer and black cattle were more plentiful, and
sheep comparatively few to what they are in the
present clay.

96 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

CHAP TEE XXVI.

Sleeping in Shepherd's House — Start in the Morning — Eagle —
Wild-geese — Find Deer ; unsuccessful shot — Rocky Ground
— Wounded Stag — Keeper and Dog — Walk Home.

Before the earliest grouse-cock had shaken his
plumage, and called his mate from her heather
couch, I had left my sleeping-place in the building
that did duty for a barn, where deep in the straw
and wrapped in my plaid I had slept sound as a
deer-stalker, and I fancy no person sleeps more
soundly. I had preferred going to roost in the
clean straw to passing the night within the house,
knowing by former experience that Malcolm's sheal-
ing was tenanted by myriads of nocturnal insects
which, like the ancient Britons, " feri hospitibus,"
would have left me but little quiet during the night.
The last time I had slept there, all the fleas in the
shearing, " novitatis avidi," had issued out, and
falling on the body of the unlucky stranger, had
attacked me in such numbers, that unanimity only
was wanting in their proceedings to have enabled
them to carry me off bodily. Tempted by the clean

CH. XXVI. START IN THE MORNING. 97

and fresh appearance of the good lady's sheets, I
had trusted my tired limbs to their snowy white-
ness, when, sallying forth from every crevice and
every corner, thousands of these obnoxious insects
had hopped on to me, to enjoy the treat of a sup-
per of English blood. The natives of these places
seem quite callous to everything of the kind.

To continue, however. After making good use
of the burn that rippled along within fifty yards
of the house, and having eaten a most alarming
quantity of the composition called porridge, I
sallied forth alone. Malcolm and his brother
would fain have accompanied me, but the latter
had to attend' some gathering of sheep in a dif-
ferent direction, and Malcolm was obliged to go
for the stag killed yesterday. He therefore only
walked a few hundred yards up the first hill with
me, in order to impress well on my recollection the
different glens and burns he wished me to look at
on my way to the place of rendezvous with old
Donald. The sun was but a little distance above
the horizon when I gained the summit of a toler-
ably long and steep ascent immediately behind
Malcolm's house. A blackcock or two rose wild
from some cairn of stones or hillock, where they
had been enjoying the earliest rays of the sun,

and flew back over my head to take shelter in the
VOL. II. h

98 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

scattered birch thickets near the shealing; and here
and there a pack of grouse rose, alighting again
before they had flown a hundred yards, as if fully
understanding that grouse -shooting was not the
order of the day, and, strutting along with their
necks stretched up, seemed to care little for rny
presence. The ring-ousel flitted from rock to rock,
uttering its wild and sweet note. Truly there is
great enjoyment gained by the early riser ; every-
thing in nature has a pleasant aspect, and seems
happy and thankful to see the light of another sun.
The great mountain to the west looked magni-
ficent as its gray corries and cliffs were lighted
up by the morning rays. A noble pile of rock and
heather is thatmountain,and well named Ben Mhor,
or the Big Mountain — not a triton amongst min-
nows, but a triton amongst tritons. The golden
eagle, to add grandeur to the scene, was sweeping
through the sky high above me, and apparently eye-
ing my canine companion with mingled curiosity
and appetite. Once or twice in his circles he came
so near that I was half inclined to send a rifle-ball
at him, but as often as I stopped my walk with this
intention, the noble bird wheeled off again, and
at last, remembering his breakfast hour was past,
flew off in a straight line at a great height towards
the loch to the north of us, where he probably

CH. XXVI. WILD-GEESE. 99

recollected having seen some dead or sickly sheep
during his flight homewards the evening before.

I had several hours to spare before the time
of meeting Donald, so I diverged here and there,
wherever I thought it likely I should find deer, and
then kept a northerly course in order to look at
some burns and grassy ground near the loch, ac-
cording to Malcolm's advice. The loch itself was
bright and beautiful, and the small islands on it
looked like emeralds set in silver. With my glass
I could distinguish eight or nine wild-geese, as they
ruffled the water in their morning gambols, having
probably just returned from grazing on the short
green grass that grew on different spots near the
water's edge. These grassy places were the sites
of former habitations, and were still marked by the
line of crumbled walls, now the constant resort of
the few wild-geese that breed every year on the
lonely and un visited islands of the loch.

Below me there was a capital flat for deer, a long
sloping valley with a winding burn flowing through
the middle, along the banks of which were grassy
spots where they constantly fed. I searched this
long and carefully with my glass, but saw nothing
excepting a few small companies of sheep which
were feeding in different flocks about the valley.
So famous, however, was this place as the resort of

100 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI-

deer, that I took good care not to show myself, and
■crawled carefully into a hollow way, which, leading
to the edge of the burn, would enable me to walk
almost unseen for a long distance, and I thought
that there might still be deer feeding in some
bend of the watercourse, where they had escaped
my search. Before I had walked many hundred
yards down the course of the burn I saw such traces
as convinced me they had been feeding there within
a few hours ; so arranging my plaid and rifle
I walked stealthily and slowly onwards, expect-
ing to see them every moment. The nature of
the ground was such that I might come on them
quite unperceived ; the dog too showed symptoms
-of scenting something, putting his nose to the
tracks and then looking wistfully in my face, watch-
ing every movement of my rifle. The inquiring
expression of his face was perfect : whenever I
stopped to look over or around some projecting
angle of rock he kept his eyes fixed on my face, as
if to read in it whether my search was successful
or not. A deer-stalker in the situation I was in
would make a good subject for a painter. I wound
my way silently and slowly through the broken rock
and stone which formed the bed of the burn, showing
in their piled up confusion that the water must at
some times rage and rush with the fury and power

CH. XXVI. FIND DEER. 101

of an Alpine torrent, though now it danced merrily
along, rippling through the stones, and forming tiny
pools here and there, where it had not strength
enough to break through the accumulated sand
and gravel which dammed up its feeble stream.
Dressed in gray, and surrounded with gray stone
on every side, I was as little conspicuous as it was
possible to be, and there was just enough ripple
in the stream and its thousand miniature cascades
to drown the sound of my footsteps, whenever I
inadvertently put my foot on any stone that grated
or slipped below me. The only thing that annoyed
me was an occasional sheep that would see me
from the bank above, and by running off in a
startled manner was likely to warn the deer, if
there were any ahead of me, of the vicinity of an
enemy. I had continued this course for some
distance, when just as I began to propose to
myself turning off in order to cross the valley
to look over the next height, and had made up
my mind that the deer whose recent traces I had
seen must have slipped away unobserved,— just
then, on turning a corner, I caught a momentary
glimpse of the hind-quarters of one of the wished-
for animals walking slowly round a turn in the
burn. I stopped, fearing they had seen or heard me,
and I expected to see them leap out of the hollow

102 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

and make away across the valley ; but not seeing
this happen, I walked carefully on, and came in
view of nine deer, hinds and calves, who were feed-
ing quietly on a little piece of table-land close
to the burn. I also saw the long ears of another
appearing beyond and above the rest, evidently
being on the look-out. They seemed to have no
suspicion of an enemy, and when they stopped to
gaze about them their heads were turned more
towards the plain around than to the course of the
burn. The sentry too was seemingly occupied
with looking out in every direction excepting where
I was. They were not more than two hundred
yards off, and I judged that by advancing quickly
the moment that they turned the next corner, I
should be able to get unperceived within forty or
fifty yards. The single hind had disappeared too,
having gone over a small rise. I put on a new
copper cap, and felt sure of an easy shot : the dog,
though he did not see the deer, perfectly under-
stood what was going on, and seemed afraid to
breathe lest he should be heard. Amongst the
herd were two fine barren hinds, both in capital
condition. I did not care which of the two I
might kill, but determined to have one, and was
already beginning to reckon on Donald's delight
at my luck in getting a fine hind as well as the

CH. XXVI. UNSUCCESSFUL SHOT. 103

stag I had killed yesterday. All the hinds had
now gone out of sight, and I moved on. At that
very moment the sentry hind, a long-legged, rag-
ged, donkey -like beast, came back to the mound
where she had been before, and her sharp eyes
instantly detected me. Never did unlucky wight,
caught in the very act of doing what he least
wished should be known, feel, or I dare say look,
so taken aback as I was. I stood motionless for
a moment, hoping that even her eyesight might be
deceived by my gray dress, but it was too late :
giving a snort of alarm, she was instantly out of
sight. I ran forwards, trusting to be in time for
a running shot at some straggler, and came in view
of the whole troop galloping away, a tolerably
long shot off, but still within range, and affording a
fair broadside mark as they went along in single
file to gain the more level ground. I of course
pulled up, and took a deliberate aim at one of the
fat hinds. She afforded me a fair enough chance,
but I saw, the moment I pulled the trigger, that
I had missed her. The ball struck and splintered
a rock, and must have passed within a very few
inches of the top of her shoulder. I saw my error,
which was that, miscalculating the distance, I had
fired a little too high. However, it was too late
to remedy it ; so I stood quietly watching with

104 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

a kind of vague hope that my ball might have
passed through her shoulder, though in reality I
was sure this was not the case. They never
stopped till they reached the very summit of one
of the heights that inclosed the valley, and then
they all halted in a group for two or three minutes,
standing in clear and strong relief between me
and the sky. After looking back for a short
time towards the point of alarm, they disappeared
over the top of the hill, and I reloaded my rifle, and
then went to examine the exact spot where my ball
had struck. Judging from the height it was from
the ground, I saw the hind had had a very narrow
escape, and muttered to myself " Not a bad shot
after all, though unlucky ; well, I'm glad it was not
a fine stag — never mind the hinds." It's pleasant
to find consolation — " rebus in adversis ;" my dog
in the meantime scented about a good deal, and
seemed to wonder that I had missed.

I now turned off out of my stony path, and
walked across a long tract of easy ground. There
were several likely spots in my way, but no deer
were to be found ; and an hour before my time I
arrived at the trysting-place, which was a pecu-
liarly shaped large rock, standing in the midst of a
great extent of ground covered with gray stones
and rocks of a similar description, but all much

CH. XXVI. ROCKY GROUND. 105

smaller. The rock itself rejoiced in a Gaelic name,
signifying the " Devil's Stone." It was a curious
spot, — a wide and gentle slope of a hill perfectly
covered with these gray stones, looking as if they
had dropped in a shower from the clouds. They
ended abruptly near the foot of the hill, and formed
almost a straight line, as if some giant workman
had done his best to clear the remainder of the
slope, and had picked all the stones off that part, as
children do off a grass-field. Upwards, towards the
top of the hill, they increased, if possible, in number,
and the summit appeared like one mass of rock.
Through all this desolation of stone there were
several strips of heather, or withered-looking grass,
not much wider, however, than footpaths. They
served as passes for any sheep and deer which
might fancy journeying through them.

I reached my point of rendezvous, and sat down
to wait patiently for Donald, with my face turned
in the direction whence he was to arrive. I knew
that, unless detained by any quite unforeseen ac-
cident, he would arrive rather before than after
his time, as he was to bring me something in the
shape of luncheon, the liquid part of which I was
confident he would not forget.

I waited some time in this solitude, without
hearing or seeing any living creature to enliven the

106 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

dreary landscape before me, with the exception of
a pair of ravens who passed at no great height
above me, uttering their harsh croaks of ill omen as
they winged their way in a direct course, to feast
probably on the remains of some dead sheep or
deer.

My attention was suddenly roused, however, by
hearing a couple of shots in quick succession, the
sound coming from the direction in which I expected
Donald. As the reports did not appear to be at
any great distance, I rose with the intention of going
to meet him ; though I could not understand what
he was shooting at, it being quite against both his
and my ideas of propriety that he should hunt the
very ground over which I intended to beat home-
wards. On second thoughts, I fancied that he had
fired off his gun to warn me of his approach ; but,
just as I was passing these things over in my head, I
saw a stag of good size come in view from the direc-
tion in which I had heard the shots. Down I
dropped instantly behind a rock, as the deer was
coming straight towards me. As he approached,
I saw that the poor beast was hard hit. One of
his forelegs was broken, and swinging about in a
miserable manner, and he had also one of his
horns broken off a few inches above his head ;
altogether he seemed in a most pitiable state.

CH. XXVI. WOUNDED STAG. 107

Before he came within two hundred yards of me
he turned off, and I watched him as he scrambled
along on three legs painfully and slowly, stopping
frequently to look back, or to smell at the blood
that was trickling down his sides. I could
plainly see that he was also struck somewhere
about the middle of his body, as well as on the
horn and leg, and was now bleeding fast. It
then occurred to me that Donald had fallen in
with a lame stag, and had thought it best to do
what he could towards killing him with my gun.
Bullets he always took with him by my orders.
The stag continued his painful march, and I would
have given much to have been within reach to put
an end to the poor brute's misery. He twice lay
down on a grassy spot amongst the rocks, having
first looked anxiously and fearfully round him ; but
seemingly the attitude of lying was more painful
to him than moving slowly on. I remembered then
a theory of Donald's, that a deer never hies down
when shot through the liver, but continues moving,
or at any rate standing, till he dies. How far this
opinion was correct I never had a good opportunity
of proving. The deer before me, having found that
lying down gave him no relief, continued moving,
but still slowly and with evident difficulty. Once
he stopped and stood in a pitiful attitude, trembling

108 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

all over, and moving his head up and down as if
oppressed with deadly sickness. After this he
seemed to recover slightly, and, standing erect,
gazed with care and anxiety in every direction ;
then, as if determined to make one more effort for
his life, set off in a broken trot. He had been
winding about amongst the rocks all the time I had
been watching him, seldom more than two hundred
yards from me, and sometimes so near that I was
half tempted to try a shot at him ; but I was always
in hopes of getting within surer range, and did not
lire. He now trotted off about three hundred yards,
where there was a small black pool of water. Into
this he went ; it did not at first reach higher than
his knees. Just then Donald appeared in view,
coming slowly and cautiously over the hill, and
leading a pointer in a string. I saw that the dog
was tracking the deer. It was a large powerful clog,
of great size and strength — one of the finest, if not
quite the finest built dog of the kind that I had ever
possessed or seen. Having been at the death of one
or two deer, he had taken a mighty fancy to the
scent of a bleeding stag, and tracked true and keenly.
I sat quiet to watch him and the old Highlander,
as they came slowly but surely on the track, with
both their noses to the ground; Donald hunting low,
in order to be sure that the dog was still right,

CH. XXVI. KEEPER AND DOG. 109

which he could tell pretty well by the occasional
spots of blood on the gray stones, though the ground
was too hard most of the way to show the mark of
the foot. Now and then they seemed quite thrown
out for a minute or so ; this I saw was generally
occasioned by Donald's want of judgment : the dog,
though he strained on the string, kept the track
wonderfully well in every turn. The poor object of
their chase, when he first saw his enemies appear,
gave a sudden start, and seemed inclined to make
off; but on second thoughts he stopped short again,
and, lowering his head and neck, crouched in the
water, as if trusting to the surrounding rocks for
concealment ; and there the poor animal remained,
with stooping horns, perfectly motionless, but evi-
dently with every nerve and sense on the alert,
listening for the nearer approach of his enemies.
For my own part, I became quite interested in
watching Donald and the dog ; I knew that the
stag was safely ours, as he could not leave the pool
without coming into full view, and having to depend
•on his speed for safety, which in his enfeebled state
was the last thing he would like to do. Donald
looked anxiously round him sometimes, as if he
hoped to see me, and as if he expected to hear my
rifle every moment, since he was well aware that
our time of meeting was past, and that I was pretty

110 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

sure not to be far off. When he came near the
"Devil's Stone" he checked the dog, and came to
a determined halt, hesitating whether to continue
tracking the stag, or to wait for my appearance and
assistance ; he took a long look too at the country
far beyond where the animal really was. It was
amusing to see the old fellow, as he sat within eighty
yards of me, perfectly unconscious that the stag was
so near him, and that I was still nearer. The whole
thing, too, showed the great necessity of always
having a good tracking dog out when deer-stalking;
for here was a mortally-struck stag lying concealed,
where a dozen men might have passed within a few
yards without seeing him. I thought it time to
finish the business, and gave a low whistle to warn
Donald of my neighbourhood before I stirred, as I
thought it not at all unlikely that he would fire
blindly at the first moving thing he saw amongst
the rocks in his present excited state. He started
and stared round him. I saw that the deer only
crouched the lower, and would not move; so, whist-
ling again, I stood up. " The Lord keep us, sir, but
you flegged me just awful ! " said Donald. " But did
your Honour see a stag come this way ? " I told him
that I had, and that he had passed on ; but I did
not say how far he had gone. The old man was
annoyed in no slight degree at the information ; and

CH. XXVI. WOUNDED STAG. Ill

on my questioning him how he had got at the deer,
etc., he told me that, as he came to meet me, he had
seen a crippled stag coming slowly over the ground
exactly towards him; and that having stooped down
and loaded the gun he carried as quickly as he could,
he had waited till the stag passed within twenty
yards of him ; that he then fired both barrels, one
at his head and neck ; that one ball had broken off
a portion of the animal's horn, while the other had
passed through his body, tumbling him over for a
moment ; but that he had quickly recovered and
made off in my direction, and was probably now
in the burn over the next hill. " But you are aye
smiling, sir ; and I ken weel that you've seen more
of the brute than you tell me." I told the old man
exactly where he was ; and having made him quite
understand the very rock he was behind, I gave him
the rifle to finish the work he had commenced,
while I sat down with the two dogs in full view
of the pool, in order to keep the attention of the
stag occupied.

" Now then, Donald, take care ; don't be in a
hurry, and hit him in the heart or the head."

" No fear, no fear ; if I put out," said Donald,
" ye needna mind, the beast is as gude as killed
already."

Then taking a prodigious spoonful of snuff to

112 DEER-STALKING. CH. XXVI.

clear his brain, and divesting himself of his fjame-
bag and other encumbrances, he set off. He reached
a mound within thirty yards of the stag, and lying
flat on his stomach, with his rifle resting on the bank,
he aimed long and steadily; then, with sundry kicks
and contortions, screwing himself into an attitude
that pleased him more, he took another aim, and
then a good strong pull at the trigger — but in vain,
as he had not cocked the rifle. Without taking it
off the rest over the bank, he pulled back the ham-
mer and fired instantly, missing the stag entirely.
Donald was too astonished to move ; but not so the
stag, who jumped up and made off — going, however,
so stifly and lamely, that I saw the dogs must bring
him to immediately. So I let them go, and in a
very short time they had the poor beast on the
ground, and were both fixed on him like leeches,
the bull-dog on his throat, and the pointer worrying
at his shoulder.

" Bravo, Donald ! — well missed ! " I could not
help calling out as I passed him, running as hard
as I could to help the dogs. The old man was not
long in joining me ; and the dogs were soon got
off. The stag was bled, and then examined all
over to see where he had been struck.

" 'Deed, sir," said Donald, pointing to the rifle,
" she is as gleg and kittle to handle as "

CH. XXVI. WALK HOME. 113

Here he paused as if at a dead loss for a simile ;
which I was obliged to help him to at last by sug-
gesting, " As your own wife, Donald." At which
he indulged in a low inward chuckle and a pinch
of snuff, without, however, denying the " soft im-
peachment."

On looking at the stag, we found that he had
evidently been very lately shot at, and that one of
his forelegs was broken above the knee — the bone
smashed entirely, and the leg hanging on by the
skin, which would have soon worn through ; the
animal, having lost the incumbrance of the broken
limb, would soon, if left in quiet, have entirely re-
covered. "We prepared our game for being " left
till called for," and sat down to our luncheon. My
account to Donald of the death of my other stag
was interrupted by a most desperate battle be-
tween the dogs, who had fallen out over the dead
body ; and being pretty well matched in size and
courage, we had great difficulty in reducing them
to order, and compelling them to keep the peace.

I had a pleasant though not very bloody after-
noon's shooting going home, killing seven brace of
wild-fiying grouse, a mallard, and two blackcocks.
The night had set in before we were half way
through the woods in which the last two or three

miles of our road lay ; we could hear numberless
vol. n. I

114

DEER-STALKING.

CH. XXVI.

owls hooting and calling on the tops of old larch-
trees. Everything else was as still as death.

"'Deed, sir, that's no canny!" exclaimed my
companion, as an owl with peculiar vigour of lungs
uttered his wild cry close to us, and then flitting
past our faces, alighted on the opposite side of
the avenue we were walking along, and recom-
menced his song of bad omen. " If it wasn't
so dark, I'd empty the gun into his ugly craig."
However, as it was so dark, the owl escaped being
sacrificed to Donald's dislike this time ; and we soon
reached the house, where the comforts of my own
dressing-room were by no means unacceptable after
so long an absence from razor, brushes, etc.

EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS.

^te,

Roebuck.

ol ii. p. 1T7]

NOTES ON NATUKAL HISTORY
AND ON SHOOTING.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Length of Life of Birds — The Eagle— Swan — Geese— Falcons —
Fowls — Pigeons — Small Birds — Great age of Eagles and
Foxes — Red-deer — Destruction of Old Stags — Roe — Sheep
— Rifles ; size of their bore — Double-barrelled Rifles — Size
of Small Shot — Cartridges — Impossibility of laying down
general rules — Necessity of discretion in all writers on
Natural History.

It is not easy to determine the length of years
bestowed on any of the wild animals. There are
no specific and well-ascertained data on which to
form a valid opinion. On all such subjects the
most positive assertions are often . so ill supported
by facts, that the naturalist should be most careful
and guarded as to the evidence on which he founds
his opinion. It seems, however, reasonable to sup-
pose that the age attained by all animals bears a
certain proportion to the time which they take in
coming to their maturity in size and strength.

118 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVII.

Judging by this criterion, the eagle may be set
down as one of the longest -lived of our British
birds ; as he certainly does not arrive at the full
maturity of his plumage for some years. On the
other hand, the swan puts on her white feathers at
her first moulting, yet is said to live to a very great
age ; and there are well -authenticated instances
that this is the fact. Geese, too, live to a most
patriarchal age. The period of life of tame falcons
does not exceed eight to ten years — at least so I
am assured by some of my acquaintances who have
kept these birds. A wild hawk, barring accidents
from shot or trap, has, probably, a better chance
of longevity than a domesticated bird, however
carefully the latter may be tended, as it is almost
impossible to hit upon the exact quantity, quality,
and variety of food which best conduces to their
health, or to give tame birds as large a share of
exercise and bodily exertion as in their wild state
they would be constrained to take in pursuit of
their daily prey. Common fowls live to the age
of ten or twelve years, but become useless and
rheumatic after six or eight. Such, also, is the
case with pigeons. I knew of a pair who lived
for fifteen years, but they were barren for some
years before their death.

The length of life of small birds is probably less ;

CH. XXVII. AGE OF WILD-BIRDS. 119

but it is difficult to form an accurate opinion on
this point, inasmuch as any deductions founded on
canaries or goldfinches in a state of confinement
must be fallacious, as all caged birds are subject to
numerous diseases, from over-eating, from improper
and too little varied food, and a thousand other
causes, which do not affect those who live in a
state of natural and healthful liberty.

It is a curious fact that one scarcely ever finds
the dead body of a wild bird or animal whose
death appears to have been caused by old age or
any other natural cause. Nor can this result from
the fact of their being consumed immediately by
animals of prey, as we constantly meet with the
bodies of birds who have been killed by wounds
from shot, etc. Either (as donkeys and postboys
are said to do) the wild animals on the approach
of death creep into hidden corners of the earth, or
nearly all of them, before they reach extreme old
age, are cut off by their common enemy, mankind,
or serve as food to birds and beasts of prey.

I have, however, killed both eagles and foxes
who bore unmistakable marks of extreme old age ;
the plumage of the former being light coloured,
thin, and worn ; so worn, indeed, as to lead one to
suppose that the bird could not have moulted for
several seasons ; and the faces of the latter being

120 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVII.

gray and their jaws nearly toothless : yet they were
still in good, and even fat condition. In animals,
age and cunning supply the place of strength and
activity ; so that the eagle and fox are still able to
live well, even when they have arrived at the most
advanced age assigned to them.

Very old deer become light-coloured and grayish,
especially about the head and neck, and have a
bleached and worn-looking appearance over their
whole body. Their horns, also, lose much of their
rich appearance both as to colour and size, becom-
ing not only smaller but also decreasing in the
number of their points. The Highlanders assign
a great age to the red-deer ; indeed they seem to
suppose that it has no limit, save a rifle ball ; and
they tell wonderful stories of famous stags, who
have been seen and known for a long series of
years in certain districts. Though these accounts
are doubtless much exaggerated, it is tolerably cer-
tain that their life extends to from twenty to thirty
years. I do not imagine that in these days stags
have much chance of reaching that term. At the
age of seven or eight years, the animal having
arrived at full perfection as to size and beauty of
antler, they are marked down for destruction by the
numerous sportsmen who wage war against them
in every part of the north of the island. Their

CH. XXVII. DESTRUCTION OF OLD STAGS. 121

numbers in certain preserved districts have, no
doubt, increased to a great extent ; but very few of
the fine, rugged, and far-stretching antlers, which
adorn the halls of many of the old houses in the
Highlands, are now to be met with on living deer.
Where not brought down by the licensed sports-
man, a fine-headed stag has now so high a premium
offered on his life in the price given for horns,
that he is sure to fall by the gun of some poacher
or shepherd. I have known as large a sum as
five guineas given for a stag's head : and when
this is the case, nothing else can be expected but
that every stag whose horns are peculiarly fine,
will be killed. I have occasionally shot roebucks,
and still oftener does, showing by their size,
colour, length of hoofs, etc., that they had reached
a tolerable old age : but, like all persecuted
animals, the chance of their attaining their full
extent of days is so slight as scarcely to give us
the means of ascertaining how long they would
live if secure from danger.

Sheep after seven or eight years lose their teeth,
more or less, and show symptoms of their best
days being past. But these, like all other domes-
ticated animals, do not afford a good criterion to
judge by, as they are all under an artificial
system as to food and manner of living, which

122 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVII.

makes them, like man, subject to many diseases
and causes of decay, which would not affect them
if they were in a state of nature.

In populous countries such as Britain, it may
fairly be supposed that extremely few wild animals
or birds reach their full period of life. Although
some kinds are carefully preserved here and there,
they are only preserved, like sheep or fowls, to be the
more conveniently killed when required; and where
there is no restriction to shooting and destroy-
ing the ferse naturae of the country, the extensive
trade carried on throughout the kingdom in all the
shops where guns and powder and shot are sold,
proves what numbers must be destroyed. Added to
this, guns and rifles are now so well made as to be
much more destructive weapons than formerly.
No reasonable person would wish to be able to kill
a bird at a greater distance than his fowling-piece
now enables him to do ; and a modern rifle carries
correctly quite as far as a man can see clearly
enough to aim with nicety at a small object.

In shooting with the rifle at large animals, such
as deer, a good-sized ball is, for several reasons, a
very great desideratum. In the first place, the
larger the ball the greater is its force. A ball
of 11 bore smashes through a substance which
would stop the ball of a pea -rifle, unless the

CH. XXVII. DOUBLE-BARRELLED RIFLES. 123

latter is aimed at and strikes some vital part.
The animal struck carries it away, and either
pines wounded for a long time, or dies in some
concealed place, where it is lost to the shooter.
Also, the wound made by a small ball will fre-
quently close up again immediately, enabling the
deer to escape ; or the ball, instead of breaking a
bone, is stopped by it ; and it should be remem-
bered, that when you shoot at an animal, the most
merciful way of doing so is with a weapon which
hills instead of merely wounding it. Good single-
barrelled rifles can easily be procured ; but to get
a trustworthy double rifle the sportsman must go
to one of the first-rate gunmakers, and pay a first-
rate price. By altering the sights of a single-
barrelled rifle, any person, knowing the commonest
elements of shooting, can make it carry correctly a
hundred yards or more ; but a double rifle, if the
axes of the two barrels are not exactly parallel, can
only be adjusted by taking it to pieces again and
again, until the barrels shall lie so evenly together,
that at a hundred yards the two balls strike within
an inch of each other. As it is almost impossible
for the most skilful gunsmith to join the two barrels
together so correctly at first as to attain this result,
he has to try them repeatedly, taking his work to
pieces again and again, until he is quite satisfied

124 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVII.

with his performance. All this must, of course,
add to the expense ; but it is money well expended
if, after all, a double-barrelled rifle does shoot per-
fectly true. Another important point which should
be borne in mind with regard to rifles is, that those
of very small bore do not carry so true for long
shots as larger ones.

It is difficult to lay down any specific rule as to
the most effective size of small shot for shooting
game and wild-fowl. Some sportsmen strenuously
assert that one particular number is the only right
kind, or indeed the only kind that ought to be
used ; others tell you quite a different story. For
my own part I consider that for all flying game
the shooter should rather be inclined to small sizes
than large. No. 7, for instance, kills partridges
and even grouse more effectively than a larger size.
For wild-duck shooting, too, where you shoot at
single birds, No. 5, or even No. 6, appear to me
to kill oftener than the larger sizes more generally
used. I am, indeed, convinced that small shot
works its way better than large through the down
and feathers ; the latter, notwithstanding its
superior force, getting rolled up in the down, while
the former cuts through it, and kills the bird. For
flocks of ducks larger shot may be used ; but even
then too large sizes do less execution than smaller

CH. XXVII. CARTRIDGES. 125

ones. Swans and geese require No. 1 or No. 2, as
smaller shot seldom breaks a wing of these birds ;
but -cartridges are the most effective, and then you
may use No. 3 at single geese with tolerable cer-
tainty. Eley's cartridges, with large shot, such as
B.B. or S.S.G., in them, sometimes kill at prodigious
distances, but are very apt to "ball" completely, and
deceive the shooter. Indeed, all the green cart-
ridges have this defect ; owing to which the bird
is either missed entirely or blown to pieces.
Several good shots of my acquaintance can never
succeed well with wire-cartridges : they certainly
require a different style of shooting from loose
shot, as they not only shoot slower, but also are
very much inclined to throw the shot low ; and
in order to use cartridges with success these two
facts should be constantly borne in mind.

I find that the " yellow cartridge" which is
made without any wire, answers extremely well for
grouse-shooting, or when common game is wild, as
they keep the shot close together, but without
balling to any great extent. They are very
excellent too for rabbits, who generally require all
the shot which the sportsman can give them. Late
in the season, hares certainly ought not to be shot
at with a size under No. 4 : smaller shot will not
break their bones sufficiently to stop them at once,

126 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVII.

excepting when the animal is crossing you.
Different guns, however, carry effectively different
sized shot; and therefore the same rules do not apply
to all. Some guns also shoot cartridges in a very
different manner from others ; and I should wish
it to be clearly understood that I do not lay down
these suggestions as infallible rules, but merely as
the results of my own experience, hoping that some
of my readers may profit by them. In all matters
of this sort I consider that much more information
is gained by the reader if an author is content
simply to mark down ascertained facts. If too
much decision is assumed, and mere hearsay asser-
tions are put down as "facts" — if he lays down
as general rules what may be applicable only to
particular cases — perhaps solely to his own, an
author will on this subject, as on most others, do
more harm than good. " Quot homines, tot sen-
terdiw" and although half of what I write may
probably not meet the ideas of many of my readers,
I offer it all, leaving it to every one to extract what
is applicable to his own pursuits, and hoping that
there may be few who will not find some hint or
other, or some chance bit of information which
may aid them in their amusements.

Amongst the mass of books written on subjects
of natural history, it is curious to see the number-

CH. XXVII. BOOKS ON NATURAL HISTORY. 127

less errors committed, and the false inferences
drawn, by superficial observers, or by persons who
set down as facts not merely what they actually
see, but what they fancy must, or ought to be ; and
who describe as ascertained facts things of which
they know nothing more than that they seem to be
possible, and may be probable. This is a system
of writing which cannot be sufficiently reprobated
as tending to establish most erroneous and mis-
taken ideas. Every student of nature and of the
habits and manners of living creatures, even of
those which are apparently the most insignificant
and uninteresting, must know that the truest facts
concerning them are often much more marvellous
than anything he would dare to invent ; and that
a writer on such subjects, who wishes to embellish
his book with startling and surprising anecdotes,
will best attain his object by sticking closely to
the plain reality.

It is an old and oft -repeated saying, that
" Truth is stranger than fiction ; " and it is espe-
cially so in treating of Nature and her productions,
whether we direct our attention to animals of the
largest size and highest order of intelligence and
instinct, or to the equally astonishing habits and
means of living displayed by the smallest insects
and reptiles.

128 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVIII.

CHAPTEE XXVIII.

Disease amongst Grouse ; difficulty of assigning its cause —
Supply of Grouse to Poulterers — Netting game, legal and
illegal — Disguised Poachers — Game - Laws — Preserves —
Criminality of Poachers — Epidemics amongst Hares, etc. —
Black Game — Hybrids — Wood-pigeons — Geese — Sentinels.

It is difficult, I ought perhaps to say impossible,
to understand the cause and origin of what the
Highland keepers call " the disease " amongst
grouse. For the last few years it has in several
districts almost swept away these birds ; so much
so that scarcely a young bird is to be found, and
very few old ones. Some persons assign one thing
as the cause of this and some another, all plausible,
but all on investigation equally unsatisfactory.
One keeper will tell you that the heather "is too
short;" another, that "it is too long;" one, that
the hills have been too wet during the spring ;
and another, that the weather was too dry : in fact,
the most experienced persons are all at fault. For
my own part I conceive that it is some epidemic
which cuts off the birds indiscriminately in wet and
dry, cold and hot weather, without reference to

CH. XXVIII. MARKET SUPPLY OF GROUSE. 129

state of ground or climate. The worst feature of
the case is, that as yet nothing approaching to a
cure or preventive has been discovered. I should
be very much inclined in a diseased district to
shoot hard for a season, instead of sparing the sur-
vivors ; and then to give the grouse a year or two
of entire rest and immunity from dog and gun.
If the hills are let to strangers from a distance
during a scarcity of this kind, it is natural to expect
that, having no interest in them beyond the season,
and paying a considerable rent, they will shoot as
many birds as they can, without thinking of the
future ; and as in general the grounds are each
year let to new tenants, the same thing will occur
again and again until the birds are nearly extinct.
Luckily, in favourable seasons and on good
ground, grouse seem to grow and increase almost
like the heather among which they dwell, and the
hills soon get stocked again. The number of
grouse sent to the markets in London, and in all
the large towns in England, from the beginning
of August to the end of the season, is perfectly
astonishing ; and indeed until March any quantity
of grouse can be procured from the poulterers and
game-dealers. Immense must be the slaughter to
afford this supply : the greatest portion are shot ;

but in some districts considerable numbers are
VOL. II. K

130 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-ROOKS. CH. XXVIII.

caught with horse-hair snares set upon the sheaves
of corn. Netting does not seem to succeed to any
great extent, although it has frequently been tried
by poachers. I confess that I do not see why net-
ting game should be considered a more destruct-
ive and poaching-like system than shooting it — I
mean, of course, if it is carried on legitimately and
as an amusement. I admit that the whole covey
or pack is caught at once, but that they should all
of them have their necks wrung is by no means a
necessary sequitur. There is, also, a great degree
of skill and perfect training required in the "setting-
dog," which gives much interest to this way of
sporting. It should be borne in mind also, that
when a covey of partridges is caught they are not
injured, and the sportsman can set at liberty all
that he does not require ; whereas in shooting, very
many birds are, of necessity, uselessly wounded
and left to perish.

The system of netting partridges at night time,
as it is carried on by the poachers in some parts of
England, is most destructive ; and unless checked
is certain to clear the country of all its birds.
The only way to prevent this silent and whole-
sale robbery is to stake and bush the grass-fields.
Partridges when undisturbed roost, or rather sleep,
regularly in the smoothest grass or barest stubble.

CH. XXVIII. DISGUISED POACHERS. 131

They seem to feel more security with an open
expanse around them than in any kind of conceal-
ment. The whole covey sits crouched in a space
that might almost be covered with a hat, so closely
are they huddled together. After having made
their evening meal in the stubbles, which they
always do, in the autumn and winter, between the
hours of three and five, the old birds call their
brood and collect them together ; they then fly off
to some grass-field or other very bare ground, and
having run about, apparently in play, for a little
while, as soon as the light begins to fail they
fly off to some favourite spot in the field, and,
huddling up together in a furrow, take up their
quarters for the night. Unluckily all this is done
with a great deal of noise ; the birds constantly
calling to and answering each other, and running
to and fro with their heads most conspicuously
erect, thus plainly showing the netting -poacher,
who is sure to be on the look-out, where he may
expect the best luck during the night. While this
work is being carried on, you may see some fellow,
often dressed more like a schoolmaster than a
poacher, lounging listlessly about the lanes, leaning
against the gates and smoking his pipe. You never
suspect that any sporting propensities can be con-
cealed under the high-crowned beaver and swallow-

132 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVIII.

tailed coat of this classical-looking gentleman, who
seems to be merely enjoying the beauty of the
evening, although all the while he is watching
with the eyes of a lynx the unsuspecting partridges
as they run about calling to each other preparatory
to going to roost. The fellow is thus able to form
a pretty good guess as to where half-a-dozen coveys
may be netted ; and he returns to his confederate,
who in the meantime has been equally usefully
employed at some alehouse or elsewhere in pre-
paring and mending the nets. "Dressing" for
the occasion, as it is termed, is now become by no
means an uncommon practice near large towns in
England, and many a pheasant preserve is laid waste
by Methodist parson-like fellows, whose black coat-
pockets and clerical-looking hats contain, instead
of sermons, neatly-coiled piles of horsehair nooses
ready tied on a line long enough to be run across
a large extent of cover, at the favourable moment
when the keeper, of whom they have just asked
the way to the rectory, has gone about his business
in some other direction.

By such means as these a great part of the game
is obtained which we see hung up in such immense
quantities in all the poulterers' shops. A game-
keeper cannot be too curious and inquisitive as to
the business and movements of all strangers about

CH. XXVIII. PRESERVING GAME. 133

his ground, whether dressed in a fustian jacket and
leather leggings, in a rusty suit of black, or in a
blue swallow-tail with gilt buttons. By watching
unseen an idler of this sort, a keeper may fre-
quently find out some projected manoeuvre against
his pheasants and partridges.

There has been of late a great cry out against
game and game-laws, gamekeepers and game-
preservers. In fact, the mere word " game " is
sufficient to excite the bilious indignation of half
the newspapers in the United Kingdom, and more
especially of those whose claims to popularity are
founded on the loudness and virulence of their
abuse of what they term " the aristocracy of the
kingdom."

I am very far from being an advocate for carry-
ing out the system of preserving game to the extent
which is frequently done, where woods as full of
pheasants as a poultry-yard is of chickens afford no
real sport, and where, instead of the amusement of
hunting for and finding your game, your only em-
ployment is the mere act of shooting them, the
birds and hares being as tame and as easy to kill
as so many domestic fowls. At the same time, if
proprietors like to go to the expense and trouble
of keeping innumerable pheasants and hares, I
cannot see why they should not be allowed to

134 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVIII.

indulge their taste, without being held up to public
censure by those whose taste happens to be different,
as is so frequently the case.

It is not the farmers who complain of the game :
they have a fair and I believe a legal right to com-
pensation for all the mischief it does them ; and I
do not think that this claim is often, if ever, refused
to be acknowledged by the game-preserver. In
fact, it is his interest to keep on good terms with
the occupier of the land, even if his sense of justice
did not induce him to do so, as the farmer and
tenant are able to destroy more game, in the shape
of eggs and young birds, during the breeding
season, than the proprietor and all his friends could
shoot in a twelvemonth. They can do this, too,
without exposing themselves to any risk of paying
penalty for infraction of the game-laws. As far as
my own experience extends, I have never found
tenants looking upon the preservation of game as
so great a nuisance and source of loss as they are
represented to do by many writers on the subject,
who for the most part advance as facts statements
which are either utterly untrue, or, at the best, are
twisted and exaggerated to serve their own pur-
poses. Leases are always entered into by farmers
with their eyes well open to every chance of loss
which they are likely to sustain from the game,

CH. XXVIII. CRIMINALITY OF POACHERS. 135

and stipulations are made accordingly. In fact,
the proprietor of the game is almost invariably the
person who, directly or indirectly, pays for its
keep : this price it is right that he should pay for
his amusement, and the cases, I believe, are very
rare in which any objection is made to doing so.

In considering this subject, it should also be
borne in mind that in these days game is a source
of profit and income to so many persons that it
ought to be under legal protection, as much so as
any other kind of property. The trespasser in
pursuit of game renders himself liable to certain
penalties with as perfect a knowledge of the risk
he runs as the man who steals from the hen-roost.
It is often argued that poaching is the first step to
many worse crimes ; so is picking pockets. Phea-
sants are great temptations, and so are pocket-
handkerchiefs ; and a man has as much right to
breed pheasants in his woods as to walk down
the Strand with a silk pocket-handkerchief in his
pocket. It is very true that the pheasant-stealer
may become a highwayman, and in like manner the
picker of pockets may become a burglar ; but in
neither case should the minor crime be permitted
to go unpunished in a vain hope of decreasing the
frequency of the greater. Men are very seldom
impelled by actual want to take up poaching as

136 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVIII.

a trade ; they are almost always led to it by a
natural lawlessness of disposition and a disin-
clination to labour, or else by a wish to earn the
means of indulging in drinking and low profligacy,
in the same manner as the young Levi or Moses
who picks your pocket spends the proceeds of his
booty in some den of infamy in town. I allude, of
course, in all I have said, not to the illegal follower
of game who is led to do wrong by sportsman-like
feelings, but to the desperate and systematic poacher
who acts from mere love of gain and an utter con-
tempt of right and law, and who too frecpiently
would as soon maltreat or kill a gamekeeper who
performs his honest duty, as he would shoot a hare.
The savage encounters that occasionally occur are
invariably commenced by the most lawless and
dissolute class of poachers, whose sole object is
plunder, and who have not a particle of that love
of sport in their composition which so frequently
leads the comparatively blameless trespasser into
the hands of the law.

I have entered perhaps too far into a worn-out
and unpleasant subject, but I have been led to do
so by the honest conviction that, in property of this
sort at least, every man has a right to " do what he
likes with his own," provided his neighbour does
not suffer thereby.

CH. XXVIII. INCREASE OF MOUNTAIN-HARES. 137

Babbits and hares are, like winged game, subject
to epidemics, which frequently carry off great num-
bers. Their diseases can generally be traced to
the wet weather or other obvious causes, though
sometimes, indeed, these animals disappear almost
entirely from a district without any ostensible
cause ; whether they migrate or perish by disease
is a mystery.

Of late years the mountain-hares in Scotland
have increased in some places to an almost incred-
ible degree, and hare-shooting in the mountains
has occasionally taken the place of grouse-shooting,
the birds having died off, while the hares have
flourished. Grouse and the mountain-hare feed
on very nearly the same food. This circumstance
tends to corroborate the supposition that the epi-
demic amongst grouse is by no means occasioned
by any failure in the growth of the heather.

In many parts of Scotland an old blackcock is
almost uneatable, his flesh having so strong a
flavour of juniper : where, however, this plant does
not abound, the black game, feeding on grain and
other seeds, are as good for the table as any other
kind of game. Although the blackcock and caper-
cailzie frequently breed together, and mules be-
tween the pheasant and black grouse are, though
rare, occasionally seen, I have very rarely found

138 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVIII.

a well-authenticated case of a mule bird bred be-
tween the grouse and blackcock being killed. In
most instances in which birds supposed to be
hybrids between these two species have fallen under
my observation, they appeared to me to be merely
gray hens, whose plumage had become like that of
the cock. I have seen birds of this kind in the
Edinburgh Museum and elsewhere ; and I saw one
killed this autumn (1848), which had very much
the appearance of a hybrid, but on closer exami-
nation I came to the conclusion that it was merely
an old gray hen, who had changed her appearance,
as the hen-pheasant does. This latter bird, we all
know, is very frequently killed in different stages
of change towards the male plumage. The same
is the case with the common domestic fowl and the
peahen. It is difficult to account for the cause
of this transformation. We know that it does
not arise from any disease or ill-health, as the
birds in their borrowed plumage are always in as
good condition as any others.

It is very rare indeed to find any wild animal
subject to illness, with the exception of the
epidemics before alluded to. Unless they are
wounded and unable to hunt for their own food,
all wild birds and animals keep themselves plump
and healthy. The wood-pigeon is indeed frequently

CH. XXVIII. WOOD-PIGEONS. 139

subject to a kind of cancer and growth on their
bills and about the eyes, which eventually destroys
them ; but I attribute this disease to feeding on
the beech-mast, which is probably too heating a
food for the young birds. The old wood-pigeons
are seldom if ever attacked by this disease, not-
withstanding their great fondness for beech-mast
and acorns.

Wood-pigeons are not so much valued for the
larder as they deserve to be. They are excellent
eating at all seasons, excepting when driven by
snow to feed on the turnip leaves. Since the de-
struction of vermin and the increase of fir planta-
tions, they have grown very numerous in many
parts of the country, where, a few years ago, they
were comparatively rare. It is, however, difficult
to kill many of them during the winter and
autumn, when they are collected in flocks, their
safety resulting rather from their timidity than
from any excess of cunning.

Most birds, while feeding in flocks, appoint sen-
tinels, whose duties appear to be perfectly under-
stood, as well by the guards as by the guarded :
red-deer, too, whilst resting, usually place a young
stag as sentinel, and do not allow him to lie clown
or leave off his vigilant watching, which often lasts
a considerable time. Those at rest appear to be

140 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXVIII.

perfectly unconcerned and at their ease, and to
depend entirely on the watchful eyes and ears of
their sentry.

In the same way wild-geese, while feeding on the
open fields, invariably leave one bird to keep watch,
and most faithfully does she perform this duty.
Keeping on some high spot of the field she stands
with neck perfectly erect, watching on all sides, and
listening to every sound far or near. Nor does she
attempt to snatch at a single grain, however hungry
she may be, till one of her comrades thinks fit to re-
lieve her guard; and then the former sentinel sets to
work at her feeding with an eagerness which shows
that her abstinence while on duty was the result
not of want of appetite, but of a proper sense of the
important trust imposed on her. If any enemy or
the slightest cause of suspicion appears, the sentry
utters a low croak, when the whole flock imme-
diately run up to her, and, after a short consulta-
tion, fly off, leaving the unfortunate sportsman to
lament having shown the button of his cap or the
muzzle of his gun above the bank of the ditch,
along which he had perhaps been creeping, " sua-
dente diabolo," for the last half-hour up to his knees
in water, well iced to the temperature of a Scotch
morning in February. Thus also wild-ducks, cur-
lews, crows, and almost all birds when feeding in

CH. XXVIII.

VIGILANCE OF WILD-FOWL.

141

flocks, leave sentries, on whose vigilance the rest
entirely depend, taking no heed of anything around
them, but feeding in conscious safety. Nor is it
necessary for a cry of alarm to be given, as the flock
perfectly understand what is going on by the actions
or looks of the one who is watching, distinguishing
at once whether the sentry is intent on some sound
or object at a distance, or whether the danger is
imminent and pressing. It is not only by the voice
and action of birds of their own kind that flocks of
wild-fowl guide their actions : the startled move-
ment or cry of a redshank or peewit is sufficient
to put on wing a whole flock of geese or ducks
instantaneously, and also to tell exactly from what
point the clanger is to be apprehended.

142 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXIX.

CHAPTEB XXIX.

The Landrail ; Arrival and Habits of — Cuckoo — Swift — Associa-
tions connected with Birds — Enjoyment of Life by Birds —
Falcons — Water-fowl ; their different modes of Swimming
— Wild-fowl shooting — Wounded Ducks — Retrievers ; care
which should be taken of them — Plumage of Water-fowl ;
its imperviousness to wet ; the cause and limits of this.

The landrail is one of the most numerous and most
regular of our birds of passage. For several sea-
sons the 1st of May has been the earliest day on
which I have noticed them. At first I hear a single
bird or two croaking in some small patch of early
wheat or long clover : their numbers then increase
rapidly every day. In the early morning I see
them along the sides of the paths, and more par-
ticularly near grassy ditches. The rapidity with
which this bird threads its way through thickly-
growing clover is astonishing. With head crouched
to the ground it glides, in a horizontal position,
almost with the quickness of an arrow, scarcely
moving the grass as it passes through it. One
moment he is at your feet, and the next he is
standing far off, with erect head and neck, and

CH. XXIX. CUCKOOS. 143

croaking with a voice of brass. By the end of May
or the beginning of June every field is full of them ;
and the noise they make during the night time,
or after a shower of rain, is incessant. By the
middle of August they become quiet ; and the corn
being high, they are then seldom seen. Before the
crops are carried they have almost entirely disap-
peared, having left the country quietly and unseen.
Sometimes during the shooting season a landrail
rises in some very unexpected place, and they are
then as fat as it is possible for a bird to be. On
their first arrival also they are in good condition,
till the business of breeding commences, when they
become comparatively lean.

Though the voice of the landrail is per se so pe-
culiarly harsh and grating, there are few birds whose
note falls more pleasantly on my ear — associated
as it is with the glad season of spring and summer.
The monotonous cry of the cuckoo has nothing
delightful in it beyond recalling to the mind pleas-
ing ideas of spring and woody glades ; yet I believe
every one listens to this bird with pleasure. From
seeing and hearing so many of them about the wild
rocks and glens of Scowrie and Assynt, the cuckoo
now always brings that rugged district before my
eyes, instead of the tranquil groves where I for-
merly had seen it. The nest, which of all others

144 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXIX.

the knavish cuckoo prefers to lay her eggs in, is
that of the titlark ; and in Scowrie and Assynt
those birds abound.

Another bird, whose cry is invariably associated
by me with one kind of locality, is the swift. I
never hear the loud scream of this bird without
having some well-remembered steeple or other
lofty building brought vividly before my mind's
eye: thus, also, the martin and swallow recall
the recollection of some favourite stream, whose
waters abound in trout, and whose banks swarm
with the May-fly and gray drake.

The crow of the grouse is as inseparable in my
mind from the mountains of Scotland, as the song
of the ring-ousel is from its birch-covered glens,
or the spring call of the peewit from the marshy
meadows.

There is, I think, great pleasure in thus recol-
lecting by the sounds and notes of living animals
scenes which the eye has dwelt upon with delight,
and so constant is every bird to its own locality,
that the associations thus called forth are invariably
correct.

In preserving game, quiet and food are the two
things to be attended to. No animals will remain
in places where they are frequently disturbed;
vicinity to favourable feeding-ground is also a sine

CH. XXIX. FALCONS. 145

qud non. In large and extensive tracts of wood,
where there are miles of unbroken forest, birds
are always rare, excepting indeed some of the far-
wandering hawks, whose strong wings enable them
to pass over miles of country with little exertion.
Even birds of prey are more inclined to take up
their abode near the outskirts of a wood than in
its densest solitudes.

In winter large flocks of the long-tailed titmouse,
the golden-crested wren, and other birds of similar
insect-searching habits, flit from tree to tree, passing,
in an unbroken multitude for hours together, hang-
ing in every possible attitude from the branches
while searching for their minute prey, and enliven-
ing the solitude with their bright wings, and with
their merry chirp, so expressive of pleasure, as they
flutter from tree to tree. I believe that all wild-
birds live in a state of constant enjoyment when
unmolested by animals of prey, biped or quadruped,
and even then their terror or pain is but of short
duration, having no anticipation of the coming-
evil, or much remembrance of it if fortunately they
escape. The snows of winter sometimes indeed
shut up their sources of food ; but it is rare, at
least in this country, that plenty of open ground
is not left for the wants of all the wild animals.

The falcon at earliest daybreak, after enjoying
VOL. II. l

146 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXIX.

for a short time the morning sun, shakes her
feathers once or twice, plumes her wings, and then
launching herself into the air, passes with straight
and direct flight to the most favourable hunting-
ground. Some unfortunate grouse or plover is soon
struck down. The first act of a falcon on striking
and catching a bird is, if any life remains, to dislo-
cate its neck ; and thus its pain is immediately over.
Oftener, however, the falcon strikes her chase while
in the air, killing it perfectly dead instantaneously.
Indeed all the long-winged hawks prefer striking
their prey in the air, seldom dashing with the same
confidence at a bird on the ground. Having well
filled her crop, the falcon flies back to some
favourite stone or projection of rock on the cliffs,
and there sits in a state of quiet satisfaction for
the rest of the day, perched in a situation where
no danger can approach her unperceived.

There must be great enjoyment, too, in the flight
of the eagle and buzzard, as they soar and float for
hours together at a height that makes them appear
no bigger than a lark. The latter bird, too, seems
the very personification of happiness, as, uttering
its merry and sweet song, it mounts higher and
higher till lost to sight.

But no birds seem to enjoy life more than water-
fowl ; floating without exertion in perfect security

CH. XXIX. MODES OF SWIMMING OF WILD-FOWL. 147

in the midst of a calm lake, or riding, as buoyant
as a cork, on the waves of the sea.

When looking at wild-fowl on the water, it is
generally easy to distinguish what kind they are,
even from a great distance. Scarcely any two spe-
cies swim or float in the same manner, and at the
same elevation above the surface of the water.
Coots and sea-gulls float like bladders, with scarcely
any of their body immersed ; so much so that it is
almost impossible to mistake one of the former at
any distance at which a bird can be distinguished.
The divers, such as the cormorant, the black-throated
diver, and others of the same kind, swim very flat in
the water, showing scarcely any part except the top
of their back, and their head and neck, which all
these birds carry straight and erect, seldom or never
bending and arching their throat like ducks or geese.
In consequence of their swimming so low in the
water it is difficult to kill any of these diving birds,
unless you can get at them from a rock or height
above them. Widgeon swim rather flat and low in
the water. Mallards and teal keep more of their
bodies above it, and are in consequence easier to
kill while swimming. Pochards, scaup ducks, and
others of that kind, swim higher still, but are very
strong swimmers and difficult to catch when only
winged, diving incessantly, and going out to the

148 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXIX.

middle of the lake or pond, unlike the teal or mal-
lard, who invariably, when winged or otherwise
wounded, make for the land, if the sportsman keeps
out of sight, and endeavour to hide themselves in
the grass at the water's edge. Geese, when winged,
dive with far greater quickness and facility than
would be expected, and I have had very great
trouble in catching a wild-goose on a lake after I
had knocked her down, although I was rowing in
a light and easily-managed boat. Careful observa-
tion of the different manner of swimming adopted
by the several kinds of wild-fowl when wounded
is of the greatest use to the sportsman, saving him
and his retriever many a weary and often useless
wetting. Even with the best water-dog it is fre-
quently of no avail to attempt to catch winged
ducks of any kind. In cold weather, when the
water is rough and the birds get a good start in an
open lake, it is not only loss of time but is cruel
to urge your dog to follow them too long. I have
often succeeded in bagging winged ducks, widgeon,
and teal, by walking round the edge of the lochs
an hour or two after I had shot them, as the birds,
when left to themselves, the rest of the flock having
gone away, either leave the water and hide in the
grass, or else come close to the edge.

It occasionally happens in a small pool that a

CH. XXIX. WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 149

winged wild-duck goes under and never appears
again, having become entangled in the weeds, etc.,
at the bottom.

Wild-fowl seldom live any length of time after
they are winged, as they generally fall a prey to
foxes and other vermin, all of whom have a habit of
hunting round lakes and swamps during the night,
when the wounded birds quit the deep water to
feed in the shallows or marshy places.

That beautiful bird the pintail is also a very
quick diver and strong swimmer when wounded.
It is a good rule in wild-fowl shooting always to
endeavour to get shots at the birds either when
they are on dry land or when it is probable that
they will fall upon it. In the first place, no bird is
so easy to kill whilst swimming as whilst standing
or walking, as then all the body is exposed ; and in
the second place so much time is lost, and so much
disturbance caused by pursuing the wounded birds,
and even by getting the dead ones out of the water.
Besides, it is almost a matter of certainty that when
they are shot over the water some of the killed
birds will be lost ; and however good a water-dog
your retriever may be, and however hardy, the less
swimming and wetting he gets the better. Nothing
is so ill-judged and useless as sending a dog into
the water without good reason for it ; doing so is

150 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXIX.

always taking something, more or less, from his
strength and injuring his constitution. When
standing waiting for ducks in cold weather the poor
animal has no means of drying or warming him-
self, and lies shivering at your feet, and laying up
the foundation of rheumatism and other maladies.
A dog who has much water -work to do should
always be kept in good condition, and, if possible,
even fat. It is a mistake to suppose that allowing
him to come into the house and warm himself
before the fire makes him less hardy ; on the con-
trary, I consider that getting warm and comfortable
before the kitchen fire on coming home gives the
retriever a better chance of keeping up his strength,
health, and energy, when much exposed to cold and
wet during the day ; a far better chance, indeed,
than if, on returning, he is put into a cold kennel,
where, however well supplied with straw, hours
must elapse before he is thoroughly warm and
dry. Most rough dogs stand cold well enough as
long as they are tolerably dry, but frequent wet-
ting is certain to cause disease and rheumatism.
I am sure too, with regard to water dogs, that a
good covering of fat is a far more efficacious
means of keeping them warm than the roughest
coat of hair that dog ever wore. In wild animals,
such as otters, seals, etc., which are much exposed

CH. XXIX. PLUMAGE IMPERVIOUS TO WET. 151

to wet in cold countries, we always find that their
chief defence against the cold consists in a thick
coating of fat, and that their hair is short and close.
In like manner dogs who are in good condition
can better sustain the intense cold of the water
than those whose only defence consists in a shaggy
hide. Short-coated dogs are also the most active
and powerful swimmers, and get dry sooner than
those who are too rough-coated.

The imperviousness to wet of the plumage of
wild-fowl is evidently not caused by any power
which the birds have of supplying grease or oil to
their feathers. The feathers have a certain degree
of oiliness, no doubt, but from frequent observation
I am convinced that it is the manner in which the
feathers are placed which is the cause of the water
running off them as it does.

As long as a wild-duck of any kind is alive, his
skin remains perfectly dry whilst he is in the water,
although from the situation in which he may be
placed — being pursued, for instance — it is quite
impossible for him to find time to "oil his plumage,"
as some authors assert he does, " in order to keep
out the wet;" but the moment a duck or water-
fowl is dead the water penetrates through the
feathers, wetting the animal completely. If one
wing is broken, the feathers of that wing immedi-

152

EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS.

CH. XXIX.

ately become soaked with wet, the bird not having
the power of keeping the feathers of the broken
part in the proper position to resist the entry of the
water. We all know that birds are able to elevate,
depress, and in fact to move their feathers in any
direction by a muscular contraction of the skin.
When this power ceases they hang loosely in every
direction, and the wet enters to the skin.

The otter's skin never appears to be wet, how-
ever long the animal may remain in the water ;
but, like the plumage of birds, soon becomes soaked
through when the animal is dead. Whilst he is
alive the water runs off his hair exactly as it does
from the back of a bird during a shower. When
we find any bird or animal with its feathers or hair
wet and clinging together, it is a sure sign that the
poor creature is either diseased or is suffering from
some wound or accident.

CH. XXX. TRAINING OF WILD ANIMALS. 153

CHAPTEE XXX.

Taming and Education of "Wild Animals— The Eagle ; his want
of docility— Courage and Intelligence of the Noble Falcons
—The Hound — Return of Cats to their home — Maternal
Instinct of Cats — The Carrier-pigeon — Wood-pigeons —
Dovecot Pigeons — Sight of Pigeons— Blue -rock Pigeons —
Crested Titmouse — The Robin ; pugnacious disposition of —
Sparrows ; impudence of.

Almost every wild animal is more or lese capable
of being reclaimed, and rendered, if not of actual
use to us, at least an object of interest and amuse-
ment. In all attempts to educate them, patience
and temper on the part of the teacher is the first
requisite. If, fortunately, he be endowed with this
important qualification, he will scarcely find any bird
or beast so wild or so obstinate " ut non mitescere
possit." But some, it must be admitted, scarcely
repay the labour bestowed upon them. The eagle
can be tamed, but to no great extent. Naturally
of a greedy and craving disposition, he is not to be
depended upon at all times ; and though he may
show a certain degree of affection for his keeper,
he can seldom be safely approached by strangers.
An eagle, although he may have been trained for

154 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXX.

a long time and with great care for the purpose of
hunting, is just as likely to swoop at and kill his
master's dogs, or even to attack a man himself, as to
fly at any game. In this he differs from the falcons,
that is those of the hawk tribe, who are called
"noble falcons," in contradistinction to those termed
" ignoble." The Iceland, the Greenland, the pere-
grine, and the merlin also, are all " noble falcons."
The latter, formerly in high repute for the chase,
is now so seldom seen in this country, either
alive or dead, that little is known as to his merits ;
but the other noble hawks whom I have enume-
rated are all of a most kindly and tractable dispo-
sition, and possess that great courage which gives
them the full confidence in man which is necessary
for their education. These birds have also great
aptitude to receive instruction ; their habits are
social, and before they have been long in confine-
ment they become perfectly contented with their
lot. When out in the field, a trained hawk is in
no way flurried or alarmed by the movement of
men or dogs, but sits looking, when unhooded, with
calm confidence on all that is going on around him ;
and although his fine dark eye evinces neither fear
nor disquietude, not the smallest bird can pass
without his immediately descrying it, and intently
watching it until it is lost in the distance — and great

CH. XXX. COURAGE OF FALCONS. 155

must that distance be which conceals any bird from
the falcon's eye. I have often fired my gun off at
a bird, with a hooded hawk sitting on one arm,
without his evincing the least fear or uneasiness, —
as great a proof of his courage as need be required.
In fact, a hawk, like a dog, soon learns to look
upon her master as her best friend.

When a well-trained hawk has pursued a bird to
any distance out of sight of her master, and misses
catching it, she invariably flies straight back to the
place whence she was first started. I scarcely know
a more pleasing sight than to see the falcon return-
ing with direct and rapid flight, searching for her
master in the exact spot, although in a strange and
new country, where she had last seen him. If,
however, she has killed a prey, this quick return
does not take place, and the falconer must follow
as straight as he can in the line of her flight ; by
doing so he will seldom fail to find her. A hound,
in the same way, after a chase of many hours' dura-
tion, if he lose the huntsman, will always return
to the spot he started from.

The instinctive power possessed by so many
animals of finding their way back again, either to
their accustomed home or to the place from which
they had started, appears almost inexplicable, as
in many instances it is certain that they cannot

156 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXX.

be guided by any sense analogous to those which
we possess. "Well-authenticated instances of dogs
and cats, and horses also, finding their way back
from great distances to their home, although the
mode in which they have been conveyed from it
has deprived them of all assistance from then-
organs of sight, are so frequent as scarcely to
excite attention ; and yet how wonderful must be
the intelligence which guides the animal !

One of the most unquestionable instances of a
cat's displaying this faculty which has come under
my own immediate observation was that of a kittten
about three parts grown, who certainly had never
been in the habit of going ten yards from the house
door. Wishing to get rid of her, I sent her in a
bag to a person who lived more than two miles
from my own residence. Although the cat tra-
velled over a road perfectly unknown to her, and
in a bag, which entirely prevented her seeing any-
thing, she was the next morning purring about as
usual, and claiming attention in the kitchen, as
if she had never left it.

Another curious instance of a cat's travelling-
capabilities fell under my notice. By some means
she discovered the place to which her kitten had
been taken, more than a mile off ; and every night
the poor mother went to suckle her young one,

CH. XXX. CATS — CARRIER-PIGEONS. 157

returning, when the process was over, to perform the
same service to another kitten left at home. In
this instance the cat lived in a large town, through
some of the streets of which, as well as a good mile
of the outskirts, she had to take her nightly walk.
Many a danger from boy and dog the poor animal
must have gone through during her peregrinations ;
nothing, however, stopped her as long as the kitten
required her maternal attention. Notwithstanding
these amiable traits in the feline character, I must
condemn the cat as an animal who in general repays
all the care and kindness of her master with but
little strength of affection. Indeed her instincts
seem to attach her only to the fireplace or loft in
which she has been accustomed to live, and not to
the kind hand which feeds her. Some instances of
love for their owners I have known ; but, in com-
parison with that shown by dogs, they are rare and
slight, although the domestic bringing-up of, and
kindness shown to, cats is often greater, and less
mixed with the severe correction often inflicted
upon dogs.

The sense which leads the carrier-pigeon hun-
dreds of miles in so short a time, and in so direct
a course, is inexplicable. After circling for a few
moments, the bird decides unhesitatingly on its
exact line of flight, though it may never have seen

158 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXX.

the country before, and has not the assistance of the
example and guidance of any more experienced
companions, as is always the case with migrating
birds.

The carrier-pigeon is very beautifully shaped,
with broad chest and most powerfully jointed wings.
Except as to the head and feet, this kind of pigeon
has very much the form of a falcon, and is pecu-
liarly well fitted for long-continued and rapid flight.

The wood-pigeons in this country are to a certain
degree migratory, imitating, longo intervallo, the
American passenger-pigeons, in shifting their quar-
ters from one part of the kingdom to another, being
influenced in their migrations by the abundance
or scarcity of food.

The common dove-cot or blue pigeon generally
flies several miles, morning and evening, to favourite
feeding-places, seldom seeking for food in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the pigeon-house. In the
months of May and June the house-pigeons have
most difficulty in procuring food, the crops being
all unripe, and none of the seed-corn remaining on
the surface of the ground. At this season, too, few
weeds have ripened ; and the pigeons have there-
fore to depend in a great measure for their own
subsistence and that of their young on the minute
seed of the turnip, which is sown at this period.

CH. XXX. PIGEONS— DOVES. 159

It must require no little labour to enable them to
fill their crops with this small seed. As in this
country the turnip-fields are for the most part
drilled and rolled, the poor birds have the greater
difficulty in satisfying the hunger of their young-
ones ; and no young bird requires so much food
as an unfledged pigeon, in proportion to its size
and weight.

The power of the pigeon to alter the focal length
of its eye must be very great, as it is able to see
equally well an object at a distance of many miles
and a minute seed not more than half an inch
from the end of its bill.

The turtle-dove is sometimes, but only rarely,
met with as far north as Morayshire, but the
stock-dove is never seen in that part of the
country : if once introduced, I should imagine
that it would thrive perfectly well, as both the
climate and the natural productions of the district
are suited to it.

The hardy little blue-rock pigeon abounds on
all the sea-coast of Scotland, where the rocks are
steep and broken into fissures and caverns — one
moment dashing into its breeding-place, and rapidly
flying out the next ; then, skimming the very sur-
face of the breakers, this little bird gives animation
and interest to many a desolate and rugged range

160 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXX.

of cliffs as far north as Cape "Wrath and Whiten
Head. It abounds also in most of the islands.
Frequently living where there is little cultivated
ground, the blue-rock pigeon feeds on many green
plants, and I have also found its crop nearly full
of small shells. Whatever its principal food may
be, it is a particularly well-flavoured and delicate
bird, and much superior in this respect to either
the dovecot-pigeon or the wood-pigeon.

A very beautiful little bird, and one not generally
known to breed in Britain, is the crested titmouse.
From the number of specimens which have been
procured by Mr. Dunbar from the woods of Strath-
spey it is evident that this bird must be there
in great abundance, although it does' not appear to
extend its visits to other parts of the country, with
the exception of the woods about Dulsie on the
Findhorn. In these picturesque and beautiful
woods the crested titmouse is found, but not in such
numbers as in Strathspey. Its habits are the same
as those of the other species of tomtits, searching
actively among the fir-trees for insects, and hanging
from the branches in every possible attitude, prob-
ing every crevice with its tiny but strong bill. All
the kinds of titmice are very carnivorously inclined,
feeding greedily on any dead bird or other animal
which they may meet with. Our favourite, the

CH. XXX. PUGNACITY OF ROBINS. 161

robin, is not much behind them in this respect,
having a very great partiality for raw meat and
dead animals.

Although so much protected, and in fact en-
joying an almost entire immunity from all human
persecutors, the robins do not appear to increase
in numbers ; this is, in all probability, occasioned
by the bird generally breeding on the ground, and
being thereby exposed to the attacks of weasels,
rats, etc. Were it not for this, the almost sacred
character the robin has always held amongst bird-
nesting schoolboys and juvenile sportsmen must
have caused its numbers to increase ; but we still
see the same dead branch or the same railing-head
occupied by a single robin year after year ; no
rivals spring up to dispute the favourite perch.

Of all pugnacious birds the robin is the most

determined fighter. When snow and frost cover

the ground, and we feed the birds at the windows

and on the gravel walks, thrushes, blackbirds,

sparrows, and many other birds come to share the

crumbs, but none dare eat if any robin is there,

until the fiery little fellow permits him. Thrushes

and all are beaten and driven away, and even after

he has crammed himself to repletion, the robin will

sit at the window and drive away with the most

furious attacks every bird whose hunger prompts
VOL. II. M

162 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXX.

him to try to snatch a morsel of his leavings.
Perched amidst the crumbs, he looks the very per-
sonification of ill temper and pugnacity. The
thrush, on the contrary, allows every bird to feed
with him, and puts on a complaining but not an
angry look when an impudent sparrow or tomtit
snatches the morsel of bread from his bill.

In large towns it is curious to see how accustomed
sparrows become to all the noises and sights by
which they are surrounded. You see a flock of
sparrows feeding in the middle of a paved street,
an omnibus comes rattling along, shaking the very
houses and making din and noise enough to deafen
a miller, yet the sparrows merely hop out of reach
of the wheels, and do not take the trouble to go a
yard farther. Knowing, either from instinct or long-
experience, that they are safe from gun or trap,
where every passer by is too intent on his own
more important matters to waste a thought upon
them, they become most impudently confident of
their own safety.

Like all other birds, sparrows adapt themselves
without difficulty to whatever place they happen to
live in. In towns they make their nests in curious
holes and corners under the tiles and roofs of the
houses, or about the projections and carvings on
churches and old buildings. In country villages

CH. XXX. SPARROWS. 163

they delight in holes in thatched roofs or in corn-
stacks, while in less populous localities they build
almost wholly in trees, and even in hedges not
many feet from the ground, keeping, however, a
watchful and knowing eye to the security of the
place they fix upon for their loosely-made and con-
spicuous nest. There seems to be one sine qud
non in the choice of their abode, and that is the
vicinity of man. Sparrows never wander very far
from houses and towns ; in fact this bird appears to
be more at home on the roof of a house in the
midst of a populous city than in any other situation.
Basking in the sun on a lofty wall or house-top,
a flock of sparrows look down upon the crowded
streets with a pert, impudent air, chattering and
chirping to each other as if making their remarks
on the busy throng below them, and seem as per-
fectly at their ease in the midst of the noise, bustle,
and smoke, as the impudent set of schoolboys who
look up at them with a longing eye.

164 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Instinct of Birds — The "Woodcock carrying her young — Herons
—Water-ousel— Nest of Golden-eye Duck ; Habits of Birds
—Talons of Falcons and Hawks— Stuffed Birds— Plumage,
etc., of Owls — The Osprey and Sea Swallow — Manner of
Fishing — Carrion -feeding Birds — Manner of finding their
Food — The Eagle — Sense of Smell in Birds— In Ducks and
Geese — Power of communicating with each other — Notes of
alarm — A few words respecting destroying Hawks, etc. —
Colour of Birds adapted to concealment — Instinct of Birds
finding Food — Red-deer — Tame Roebuck.

Many people doubt the fact of the woodcock carry-
ing her young from the wood to the swamp in
her feet, and certainly the claws of a woodcock
appear to be little adapted to grasping and carrying
a heavy substance ; yet such is most undoubtedly
the case. Regularly as the evening comes on,
many woodcocks carry their young ones down to
the soft feeding-grounds, and bring them back again
to the shelter of the woods before daylight, where
they remain during the whole day. I myself have
never happened to see the woodcocks in the act of
returning, but I have often seen them going down
to the swamps in the evening, carrying their young
with them. Indeed it is quite evident that they

CH. XXXI. WOODCOCKS — SNIPES. 165

must in most instances transport the newly-hatched
birds in this manner, as their nests are generally
placed in dry heathery woods, where the young
would inevitably perish unless the old ones
managed to carry them to some more favourable
feeding -ground. Both young woodcocks and
snipes are peculiarly helpless birds, as indeed are
all the waders, until their bills have hardened, and
they have acquired some strength of wing and leg.
Unlike the young of partridges and some other
birds, who run actively as soon as hatched, and
are able to fly well in a very short time, wood-
cocks, snipes, and waders while young are very
helpless, moving about with a most uncertain
and tottering gait, and unable to take wing until
they are full grown. Their growth is, however,
extremely rapid.

Snipes, redshanks, and several other birds of
this genus are hatched and brought up on the same
kind of ground on which they feed ; but wood-
cocks, in this country at least, are generally hatched
far from the marshes, and therefore the old birds
must, of necessity, carry their helpless young to
these places, or leave them to starve in the dry
heather : nor is the food of the woodcock of such
a nature that it could be taken to the young from
the swamps in any sufficient quantity. Neither

166 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

could the old birds bring with it the moisture
which is necessary for the subsistence of all birds
of this kind. In fact they have no means of feed-
ing their young except by carrying them to their
food, for they cannot carry their food to them.

The foot of the heron, as well as its general
figure, seems but little adapted for perching on
trees, and yet whoever visits a heronry will see
numbers of these birds perched in every kind of
attitude, on the very topmost branches of the trees.
The water-ousel manages to run on the ground at
the bottom of the water, in search of its food. All
these actions of birds seem not only difficult, but
would almost appear to be impossible. Neverthe-
less the birds perform them with ease, as well as
many others equally curious, and apparently equally
difficult.

The feet of ducks are peculiarly ill adapted for
perching on trees ; nevertheless the golden-eye duck
generally breeds in hollow trees, not only in broken
recesses of the trunk, easy of access, but even in
situations where, after having entered at a narrow
round aperture, she has to descend for nearly an
arm's length, almost perpendicularly, to reach the
nest. Through this same entrance also has she
to take her young ones when hatched, before they
can be launched on their natural element — water.

CH. XXXI. TALONS OF HAWKS. 167

I could give numberless instances of birds and

O

other animals performing actions and adopting
habits which to all appearance must be most diffi-
cult and most unsuited to them ; all these prove
that we are not to judge of nature by any fixed and
arbitrary rules, and still less should we attempt to
bring all the countless anomalies of animal life into
any system of probabilities of our own devising.
The more we investigate the capabilities of living
animals of every description, the more our powers
of belief extend. For my own part indeed, having
devoted many happy years to wandering in the
woods and fields at all hours and at all seasons,
I have seen so many strange and unaccountable
things connected with animal life, that now nothing
appears to me too wonderful to be believed.

The feet and claws of different kinds of hawks
vary very much, being beautifully adapted to the
manner in which each bird strikes its prey. If we
examine the claws and feet of the peregrine falcon,
the merlin, or any of the other long- winged hawks'
including the varieties of those noble birds, all of
whom I believe were called in the age of falconry
" The Ger Falcon," such as the Iceland, the Green-
land, and the Norwegian falcon, we find that their
power consists rather in their strength of talon and
foot than in the sharp needle-like claws of the hen-

168 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

harrier, the sparrow-hawk, the goshawk, etc. The
rationale of this difference seems to be that the fal-
cons strike their prey by main force to the ground
in the midst of their flight ; whilst the other hawks
usually pounce on the animals on which they feed,
and take them unawares on the ground instead
of by fair pursuit and swiftness of wing. The
sparrow-hawk and hen-harrier seldom chase a bird
to any distance on the wing.

I have spoken of the peregrine, the Iceland, the
Greenland falcon, and also the falcon of Norway,
as being distinct species. This, however, is a point
to be decided by naturalists more skilful in the
anatomy and osteology of birds than I am myself.
Scribimus indocti ! My remarks are merely the
result of my own unscientific observations, aided by
the inspection of the numerous and beautifully-pre-
pared specimens of my friend Mr. Hancock, who,
I believe, I may safely assert is the best stuffer of
birds in the kingdom. The examination of his col-
lection has been a source of great pleasure to me,
but it has also had the effect of making me dissatis-
fied with the performances of all other preservers of
birds. A bird, when it is stuffed and " set up," as
they term it, ought to be " aut Csesar aut nihil."
A bird stuffed in a second-rate manner is a very
valueless and unsatisfactory affair; and it would be

CH. XXXI. PLUMAGE, ETC., OF OWLS. 169

far better, for the furtherance of natural history, if
people, instead of having a rare bird badly stuffed
and put into a distorted shape and attitude, with
projections where no projections should be, and hol-
lows where there should be none, would be content
to keep merely the skin just sufficiently filled with
cotton or tow to prevent its shrinking.

The owls have all extremely hard and needle-like
claws, and in every respect the bird is singularly
well adapted for its manner of feeding, which it
does almost wholly at night. Its immensely large
ears must enable it to hear the slightest movement
of the field-mouse, upon which it chiefly feeds ; and
its sharply-pointed talons contract with a tenacity
and closeness unequalled by those of any of the
hawk tribe, excepting perhaps the hen-harrier.
Again, the soft downy feathers and rounded wings
of the owl enable it to flit as noiselessly as a shadow
to and fro, as it searches for the quick-eared mouse,
whom the least sound would at once startle and
drive into its hole, out of reach of its deadly enemy.
As it is, the mouse feeds on in heedless security,
with eyes and nose busily occupied in searching
for grains of corn or seeds, and depending on its
quickly sensitive ear to warn it of the approach of
any danger. The foot of man, or even the tread of
dog or cat, it is sure to hear ; but the owl glides

170 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

quickly and silently round the corner of the hedge
or stack (like Death, tacito clam venit ilia pede),
and the first intimation which the mouse has of its
danger is being clasped in the talons of its devourer.

The owls of this country are far more serviceable
to us than we imagine, destroying countless mice
and rats. It must be admitted, however, that both
the long-eared owl and the common brown owl
will, during the time that they have young ones to
feed, destroy and carry off pigeons, young game,
and other birds, with a determined savageness equal
to that evinced by any of the hawk tribe.

The rough and strong feet of the osprey are
perfectly adapted to the use which they are put to,
that is, catching and holding the slippery and strong
sea-trout or grilse. The fact of a bird darting
down from a height in the air, and securing a fish
in deep water, seems almost incredible, especially
when we consider the rapidity with which a fish, and
particularly a sea-trout, darts away at the slightest
shadow of danger, and also when we consider that
the bird who catches it is not even able to swim,
but must secure its prey by one single dash made
from a height of perhaps fifty feet.

The swiftest little creature in the whole sea is
the sand-eel ; and yet the terns catch thousands of
these fish in the same way as the osprey catches the

CH. XXXI. CARRION-FEEDING BIRDS. 171

trout, excepting that the tern uses its sharp-pointed
bill instead of its feet. I have often taken up the
sand-eels which the terns have dropped on being
alarmed, and have invariably found that the little
fish had but one small wound, immediately behind
the head. That a bird should catch such a little,
slippery, active fish as a sand-eel, in the manner in
which a tern catches it, seems almost inconceivable ;
and yet every dweller on the sea-coast sees it done
every hour during the period that these birds fre-
quent our shores. In nature nothing is impossible ;
and when we are talking of habits and instincts,
no such word as impossibility should be used.

I never could quite understand the instinct
which leads carrion -feeding birds to their food.
We frequently see ravens, buzzards, and other birds
of similar habits congregating round the dead body
of an animal almost immediately after it has ceased
to live ; and therefore I cannot agree with those
naturalists who assert that it is the sense of smell-
ing which leads these birds to their feast. From
my own observation I am convinced that this is
not the case, as I have known half-a-dozen buzzards
collect round a dead cat on the afternoon of the
same day on which it had been killed, and this,
too, during the winter season, when the dead
animal could have emitted no odour strong enough

172 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

to attract its devourers. I am far more inclined
to attribute their facility in finding out their food
to a quick sense of sight. For the sake of catch-
ing these birds and the gray crows also, I was
accustomed to have the dead vermin thrown out
into a field near the house, where traps were placed
round them. When the cats were skinned, and
therefore were the more conspicuous, the carrion
birds usually found them out the same afternoon.
Now buzzards, ravens, and other birds who feed on
dead bodies are in the habit of frequently soaring,
for hours together, at an immense height in the
air, wheeling round and round in wide circles. I
have no doubt that at these times they are search-
ing with their keen and far-seeing eye for carcases
and other substances fit for food. The eagle, who
also feeds on dead bodies, wheels and circles in a
similar manner, at such a height in the air that
he frequently looks like a mere speck in the sky.
There can be no doubt that it is upon his eye only
that he depends. When, even at this vast height,
his quick eye catches sight of a grouse in the
heather, down drops the bird of prey as if shot,
till within some thirty yards of the ground, when,
suddenly stopping his downward course, he again
hovers stationary over the grouse, till a fair oppor-
tunity offers itself for a swoop. I have frequently

CH. XXXI. SENSE OF SMELL IN BIRDS. 173

seen the eagle do this ; and he has sometimes dis-
covered the grouse from a height and distance so
great as to make it appear impossible that he
should have distinguished so small an object.

It is certain, however, that birds have a tolerably
acute sense of smelling, although I know that it has
been positively denied that ducks are guided by
their scenting powers in taking alarm, and that it is
by their quick sense of hearing only that they are
warned of the approach of danger. But this I
utterly deny ; for I have constantly seen wild-fowl,
when I have been sitting perfectly motionless in an
ambuscade, swim quietly towards me without the
slightest warning of my vicinity, till coming to that
point where my place of concealment was directly
to windward of them, they immediately caught the
scent, took wing, and flew off in as great alarm as
if I had stood up in full view. The same thing-
has occurred very frequently when I have been in
pursuit of geese, the birds invariably taking alarm
as soon as they came in a line with me and the
wind, and just as much so when I was motionless
and not making the slightest noise, as when I was
creeping towards them. The same sense of smell-
ing doubtless guides birds, in many cases, to their
food, but it is certainly not the sole or even the
principal guide of the ravens or the eagles.

174 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

When one of the "anion- birds has found a
booty, others of the same species who may be
wheeling about at a greater distance at once see
by his manner of flight and other signs that he
has made some discovery, and immediately follow
in the same direction, in order that they may come
in for their share.

In like manner, when one wild-duck has found
out a quantity of corn laid clown in any particular
place, he soon brings others to the spot, and these
again give information to others, until at length
large flocks collect to feed on what was originally
discovered by a single bird. I do not mean to
infer that they can communicate to each other by
any bird-language the existence and locality of the
prize found ; but they all go to the spot attracted
by the manner of flight of the first discoverers,
which doubtless tells their companions most plainly
that they are winging their way directly towards
a depot of food, and not going forth on a vague
and uncertain search.

The clamour and noise of crows when they find
a prize tell the tale at once to all within hearing,
and not to those of their own kind only, but to
all ravens or rooks in the neighbourhood.

In the same manner birds communicate alarm
and warning, not only to those of their own species,

CH. XXXI. NOTES OF ALARM. 175

but also to others. Often has the cry of a crow,
who has suddenly while passing over my head dis-
covered my hiding-place, caused a flock of geese
or other wild-fowl to take wing instantaneously, as
if they themselves had seen me ; and many a shot
have I lost by the cries of peewits and other birds.

I have often been led to think that, when differ-
ent kinds of wild-fowl were feeding in a quiet place,
the mallards and widgeon have taken no heed to
their own security as long as there were either
curlews or redshanks feeding near them ; being
apparently quite satisfied that these vigilant and
noisy birds were sufficiently watchful sentinels to
warn them on the first approach of danger.

A stag takes warning from the alarm-note of
the grouse or plover as quickly as if he had him-
self seen an enemy, and from the manner of the
bird's flight he knows pretty accurately where the
danger lies.

In getting up to deer it has more than once
happened that I have had either to lie motionless
for a long time, or to make a considerable circuit,
in order to avoid putting up a cock -grouse, who,
eyeing my serpentine movements with suspicion,
has been ready to rise with his loud cry of alarm
had I approached a yard nearer to him. In fact
there is a language of signs and observation carried

176 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

on between animals of different kinds, which is as
perfectly understood by them as if they could
communicate by words.

It is difficult to determine how far we are right
in endeavouring utterly to destroy one kind of
animal or bird in order to increase another species.
Nature, if left to herself, keeps up a fair equili-
brium and proportion amongst all her productions ;
and, without doubt, if the world were left to itself
without the interference of mankind, there would
never be an undue proportion of any one kind of
living creature: the birds of prey would keep down
the granivorous birds from increasing till they de-
voured all the fruits of the earth ; and the carnivo-
rous birds and beasts would never entirely extirpate
any other species, as their own numbers would be
lessened by want of food before this could happen ;
besides which, we see that, unless artificial means
are resorted to, the number of living animals always
bears proportion to, and is regulated by the supply
of food which offers itself ; and, as these supplies
fail, there is a natural tendency for the consumers
to cease increasing, or to betake themselves to
other regions. But when man comes in as an
active agent, he gradually extirpates all beasts and
birds of prey for the purpose of protecting and
causing to increase the weaker but more useful

CH. XXXI. DESTRUCTION OF VERMIN. 177

animals and birds. In this country, for instance,
we can no more afford to allow hawks and crows,
foxes and weasels, to flourish and increase, how-
ever picturesque and beautiful they may be, than
we could afford to allow poppies or other useless
but ornamental wild-flowers to overrun our corn-
fields.

A pair of peregrine falcons take possession of
a rock — they will issue out as regularly as the
morning appears to search for grouse, partridges,
or other birds, which form the food of man. It is
the same with other hawks; and we well know that
crows destroy more game than all the shooters in
the kingdom. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary
to keep down the numbers of these marauders as
much as possible.

I cannot say that I am at all anxious to see
our island entirely clear of what all game -pre-
servers call " vermin." There is more beauty and
more to interest one in the flight and habits of a
pair of falcons than in a whole pack of grouse ;
and I regret constantly to see how rare these birds,
and eagles, and many others, are daily becoming,
under the influence of traps, poison, and guns.
The edict which has gone forth against them is
far too comprehensive and sweeping, and many
perfectly innocent birds go to swell the game-

VOL. II. N

178 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

keeper's list of " vermin." But I have gone fully
into this subject before.

One advantage certainly results from birds of
prey being killed off: blackbirds, thrushes, and
numerous other beautiful little birds, increase in
proportion as their enemies are destroyed. In
several districts where a few years ago these birds
were very rare they are now abundant.

The ring -ousel, too, is one of the birds who
has benefited by this destruction of its enemies.
There are some other birds, such as the wheat-ear
and tit-lark, who are seldom killed by a hawk, but
whose nests and young are the constant prey of
weasels and other ground- vermin. These also have
good reason to thank the trapper. Wood-pigeons,
whose eggs were formerly taken by the crows and
magpies in great numbers, and whose young served
to feed many kinds of hawks, now increase daily,
and begin to be a subject of great complaint amongst
farmers ; and yet the wood-pigeon during a great
part of the year feeds on the seeds of many weeds
and plants which are useless to mankind. The
eggs of birds are in general more or less concealed
from their enemies, either by the nest being similar
in colour to the surrounding substances, or by its
situation ; but the eggs of the wood-pigeon are par-
ticularly exposed to the attacks of crows, magpies)

CH. XXXI. COLOURS OF BIRDS. 179

etc. Their young, too, are constantly stolen out of
the nest by hawks and owls. It is a singular cir-
cumstance connected with the "table arrangements"
of these birds of prey, that they never carry off
the young wood-pigeons till they are nearly fledged
and ready to fly.

The ptarmigan's chance of escape from birds of
prey is much better : they are exactly the colour of
the stones in summer, and of the snow in winter,
and change their colour as that of their abiding-
place is altered. The grouse is as nearly the
colour of the brown heather as it is possible for
a bird to be ; his bright eye and red comb are the
only discoverable points about him when he is
crouched in it. The blackcock's usual haunt is in
lower situations, and he delights in the peat-moss,
where the ground is nearly as black as his own
plumage. The partridge and quail are exactly
similar in colour to the dried grass or stubble,
and the cpiickest eye can seldom see them on the
ground when crouched, and not erect or moving
about to feed. The pheasant's colour very nearly
resembles the dead leaves of the wood and coppice,
which are his favourite haunts.

The owl sits securely close to the trunk of a
forest tree, her mottled -brown plumage being in
colour exactly like the bark of the trunk close to

180 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

which she is perched. The peregrine-falcon, with
her blue-gray feathers, can scarcely be distinguished
from the lichen -covered crag, where she sits for
hours together as motionless as the rock itself.
The eagle sits upright on some cliff of the same
colour as himself, huddled up into a shape which
only the experienced eye detects to be that of
a bird. The attitudes and figures of the whole
tribe of hawks are very striking and characteristic,
and as unlike as possible to the stuffed caricatures
which one usually meets with, and in which the
natural character of the bird is entirely lost.
Prom want of time, and still more from not having
frequent opportunities of studying living subjects,
bird - stuffers in general make less advancement
towards excellence in their avocation than almost
any other class of artists, nor has the present
leaning towards ornithological pursuits produced
much improvement amongst them.

In addition to the protection which similarity of
colour affords to animals, they have a natural in-
stinct which leads them to choose such places of
concealment as, from the nature of the surrounding
objects, are the best fitted to conceal them. The
hare, for instance, constantly makes her form
amongst gray stones much of her own size and
colour ; and birds which are much persecuted do

CH. XXXI. INSTINCT OF BIRDS. 181

the same. The larger size of red-deer obliges
them to depend rather on the inaccessibility of
their resting-places than on any attempt at conceal-
ment ; and the roebuck's safety is in the denseness
and roughness of the wood in which it lies.

There is some powerful instinct, also, which
assists animals in finding their food ; and many
go direct from great distances to places where
they are sure of finding it, Pigeons find out
newly-sown peas and other favourite grains almost
immediately after they have been put into the
ground ; and will frequently fly several miles to a
field the very first morning after it is sown. Wild-
ducks, also, whose researches can only be made by
night, are equally quick in finding places where
there is plenty of any favourite food. The small
gulls, particularly the black -headed gull, discover
the ploughman before he has finished his first
furrow, and collect in great flocks to pick up every
grub or worm which he turns up. The rapid
instinct of birds who feed on carrion has been
alluded to already. In fact all birds, whatever
their food may be, have an instinctive power of
discovering it immediately, and that from such
great distances as to baffle all attempt at explana-
tion. In the mountainous districts of Sutherland-
shire and others of the northern counties, the

182 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI.

red-deer invariably knows the exact time when
the shepherd's patch of corn and potatoes is fit
for his food, and will sometimes come down in
such numbers as to eat up and destroy the entire
crop in a single night ; or if the cultivated ground
be extensive, they will repeat their visit in spite
of all attempts to drive them away ; and the
cleverness they display in taking advantage of
every unguarded moment is quite astonishing.
In Sutherlandshire little loss accrues to the tenant
from this, as a fair allowance for such damage is
always readily granted. It is a curious sight to
see these animals depending entirely on their own
resources and cunning in avoiding danger, and, in
spite of their natural timidity, coming fearlessly
down to the very door of a cottage to feed on
their favourite food, and frequently from very
considerable distances ; and even after the oats
are cut and piled up in sheaves, I have seen red-
deer with astonishing boldness manage to appro-
priate to themselves no inconsiderable share of
the ripe corn.

All the deer tribe soon find out when danger
ceases. In a domesticated state no animal becomes
more fearless and bold than a stag ; and in pro-
portion as they become so they are dangerous to
strangers, whom they attack with great fierceness.

CH. XXXI. TAME ROEBUCK. 183

They have, however, discrimination enough to
assault women more frequently than men, being
evidently aware that they are the more helpless of
the two, and less able to resist. Even a roebuck,
when tamed, will do this ; and their activity and
strength render them no contemptible antagonists.

I remember a roebuck, belonging to a clergyman
of the Established Church in Scotland, which one
day attacked and hurt a woman who was a zealous
supporter of the Free Church. The good lady
uttered the most bitter maledictions against the
clerical owner of the roe, vowing that he kept his
Satanic Majesty " in the shape of a horned beast,"
for the sole purpose of attacking and destroying
Free Church people.

A roe, though so beautiful an animal, is a most
unsatisfactory pet ; as they invariably either become
dangerous as they become tame, or else take to the
woods and are killed, their instinctive knowledge
of danger having apparently deserted them.

184 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXII.

SCOTCH STREAMS AND LAKES.

CHAPTEE XXXII.

Rivers, Streams, and Lakes in Scotland — The Tweed — The
Lakes and Streams of Argyleshire — Loch Awe — A Contest
with a Salmo ferox — Inverness-shire, Ross-shire, and Suther-
land— Pike not an injurious destroyer of Trout — Char — The
River Shin — Pertinacity of Salmon in ascending Streams —
The Beauly — The Findhorn— The Spey — The Dee — Decrease
in the number of Salmon ; its causes and its cure — Extent of
the trade of Fly-making.

Many and varied are the streams and lakes of
Scotland, and scarcely any two of them contain
trout of exactly similar appearance. Although of
the same species, and alike in all the essential
parts of their anatomy, etc., in outward appearance,
shape, and colour, trout vary more than any other
fish. As I have before observed, these fish have
the power of either voluntarily or involuntarily
taking, to a remarkable degree, the colour of the
water in which they live. In the same way do
they derive their brown and yellow hue from the

a

a

o

&

a

3

^>

a)

OS

CH. XXXII. TROUT AND SALMON. 185

stones on which they are accustomed to lie. Few
Highland streams contain very large trout : the
feeding is not abundant enough, the cold waters
not being sufficiently productive of animalcuhe and
small insects. Fish are as dependent on the
nature of the soil through which a stream runs
as oxen are on the richness of the meadows on
which they pasture. The reason is obvious : a
river which runs through a fertile country always
abounds in flies, worms, snails, etc., on which its
inhabitants feed ; whilst a mountain stream, which
flows rapidly through a barren and rocky country
has not the same supply.

I will not pretend to give a descriptive list of
all the rivers, streams, and lakes in Scotland, where
the angler may find employment for rod and line :
they are too numerous for me to do so ; nor is my
knowledge of them sufficiently complete.

There are few districts, from Ayrshire to Caith-
ness, where trout and salmon are not to be found
in tolerable abundance. Many streams run into
the Solway Firth which are plentifully supplied
with good trout, fed on the insect population of
the fertile fields of Ayrshire, Kirkcudbright, etc.
Many fine lakes, abounding in trout, char, and pike,
are also to be found in that district. But mines,
and other similar works, are already beginning to

186 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI 1.

fill that part of the country with a population
peculiarly destructive to fish and game.

The Tweed and its tributaries are known to all
as the angler's classic ground, and have been so
often described by abler pens than mine that I
will say nothing about them.

Loch Leven trout are famous throughout Scot-
land.

Then come the lakes and streams of Argyleshire,
beautifully situated in a wild and rugged country,
but overrun of late years by cockney and summer
tourists. Loch Awe will, however, always maintain
its high repute for its large lake trout, which rival
the pike in size and voracity, but are stronger, and
far more wary and difficult to catch. A " Salmo
ferox" of fifteen or twenty pounds weight is no mean
adversary. His first rush, when he finds himself
firmly hooked, is nearly strong enough to tow the
fishing-coble after him. And then comes the tug
of war. The monster, held only by a slight line
and tapering rod, is one moment deep down boring
Iris head to the bottom of the lake, with every
yard of the line run out, and the rod bent into the
water ; the next he takes a new freak, and goes
off near the surface like a steamboat, and before
you can wind in he is right under your boat and
close to the bottom of it, your line being you know

CH. XXXII. CONTEST WITH A SALMO FEROX. 187

not where. Again the reel is whirring round so
rapidly that you feel your line must break in
spite of all your fancied skill. But no — he stops
suddenly, and again seems inclined to wind your
line round and round the boat ; or, by Jove ! to
upset you, if he can, by running against its keel.
If there is a projecting nail, or a notch in the wood,
he manages to get the line fixed in it. After you
have cleared your tackle from this danger, off he
darts again. Your Highland boatman swears in
Gaelic ; you perhaps follow his example in English
— at least, to a certainty you blame him for row-
ing too fast or too slow, and begin to think that
you would give a guinea to be honourably rid of
the fish without discredit to your skill as an angler.
At last your enemy appears exhausted — you have
been long exhausted yourself — and floats quietly
near the surface. But, at the critical moment of
placing the gaff in a position to secure him, he
flaps his tail, and darts off again as strong as ever,
taking good care to go right under the boat again.
At last, however, patience and good tackle and
skill begin to tell ; and, after two or three more
feeble efforts to escape, your noble-looking fellow
of a trout is safely lodged in the bottom of the
landing-net.

Inverness-shire and the west of Eoss-shire and

188 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXII.

Sutherland are intersected by numerous excellent
salmon rivers and beautiful lakes, full to overflow-
ing of trout and pike. It is a fallacy to suppose
that pike are at all detrimental to the sport of the
fly-fisher — at least in a Highland lake, where there
is depth and space enough for both trout and pike to
live and flourish in. Of course pike kill thousands
and tens of thousands of small trout. But the prin-
cipal thing to be regretted in almost all Highland
lakes is that there are far too many trout in them,
and that the fly-fisher may work for a month with-
out killing a trout of two pounds weight. Pike
keep down this overstock, and yet still leave plenty
of trout, which are of a better size and quality than
where they are not thinned. I have invariably
found that this is the case, and that I could kill a
greater weight of trout in a loch where there are
pike than where they had not these their natural
enemies to keep down the undue increase in their
numbers. Pike, too, are by no means exclusively
piscivorous ; they are as omnivorous as a pig or
an alderman. A great part of the food of a pike
consists of frogs, leeches, weeds, etc. etc. Young
wild-ducks, water-hens, coots, and even young rats,
do not come amiss to him. Like a shark, when
hungry, the pike swallows anything and everything
which comes within reach of his murderous jaws.

CH. XXXII. SALMO FEROX — PIKE. 189

If the fact could be ascertained, I would back a
" Salmo ferox " of ten pounds weight to kill more
trout in a week than a pike of the same size would
do in a month. I never killed a tolerably large
trout without finding within him the remains of
other trout ; sometimes, too, of a size that must have
cost him some trouble to swallow. In fact, I am
strongly of opinion that pike deserve encourage-
ment in all large Highland lakes where the trout
are numerous and small. There is also no doubt
that trout follow up the lex talionis, and feed on the
young pike as freely as pike feed on young trout.

There are numberless fine lakes in the interior
of the northern counties, situated in wild and
sequestered spots remote from roads and tracks,
the waters of which are seldom or never troubled
by the line of the angler. During my search for
the breeding-places of the osprey and other rare
birds in the north of Sutherland, I have come
upon lakes situated in those rugged wildernesses,
and frequently high upon the mountains, where I
am confident no human being ever practised the
" gentle craft." The only enemies that the trout
have in these lonely lochs are the otters who live
on their banks, or the osprey who builds her nest
on some rocky islet, safely encircled by the cold
depths of the surrounding waters.

190 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXII.

There is also in many of these lakes plenty of
char, a fish of mysterious habits, never or seldom
taking the fly or any other bait, but at a certain
season (about the middle of October, as far as my
experience goes) migrating in great shoals from
the deepest recesses of the lake, where they spend
the rest of the year, to the shallows near the shore.
During this short migration they are caught in
nets, and frequently in great numbers.

On the east of Sutherlandshire there are several
excellent salmon rivers : amongst the best, if not
quite the best, of these is the " Shin," which flows
out of an extensive lake of the same name, which is
full of most excellent trout. In some parts of this
county the propensity of salmon to ascend streams
is most strikingly exemplified ; nothing can exceed
the determination with which they work their way
from river to lake, from lake to burn, and so gradu-
ally ascending every running stream until at last
they reach rivulets so small and shallow that you
wonder how two salmon can pass each other in
them. Taking advantage of every flood which
swells the burns, they work themselves up shallows
and narrow places where apparently there is scarcely
sufficient water for the smallest trout to swim.
When they have fulfilled their spawning duties they
drop back during the winter floods to the larger

CH. XXXII. THE BEAULY AND THE FINDHORN. 191

streams and thence to the sea, where they become
reinvigoratecl and increase in size with a rapidity
which would be incredible had it not been fully
ascertained by frequent and specific experiment.

On the east coast of Boss-shire, between Suther-
land and Inverness-shire, there are few streams of
any size or value.

The Beauly is a noble stream, as well for the
angler as for the lover of natural beauty, being
surrounded with most magnificent scenery.

But above all rivers, " ante omncs," the Find-
horn holds with me the highest place, not only
for the abundance of its fish, but for the varied
country and beautiful scenery through which it
passes, from the dreary brown and gray heights
of the Monaghleahd mountains, at its source, to
the flat and fertile plains of Morayshire, where it
empties itself into the salt waters ; and, beyond a
doubt, the beauty of the scenery and banks of the
Findhorn for several miles is not to be equalled
in Scotland. Most interesting, too, and varied,
are the wild animals and birds which frequent its
rocks and banks, from the stag and eagle, which
add to the wild grandeur of its source, to the wild-
swan and gray goose, which feed at its junction
with the bay.

I do not know that the Findhorn can be called

192 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXII.

a first-rate angling river ; for, although frequently
almost full of fish, it is so subject to floods and
sudden changes that the fish in it do not generally
rise well, being constantly kept on the move.

Although these violent and often most unex-
pected risings of the river add much to its interest
in the eyes of the artist or spectator, they militate
sadly against the success of the angler, who has
frequently to gather up his tackle as he best can,
and run for his life ; or, after having made up his
mind to a week's good fishing, finds the river either
of a deep black colour, or of the hue and almost of
the consistence of pea-soup, overflowing bank and
brae, owing to some sudden rain-storm in the dis-
tant mountains of the Monaghleahd.

The Spey is another glorious river — a finer river
for salmon than even the Findhorn : indeed the
rent paid for the salmon-fishing at the mouth of
this river proves it to be the best supplied water
in Scotland. Everything in this matter-of-fact age
brings its real and marketable value ; and, from
the amount of rent paid, the number of fish which
inhabit each river may be very nearly ascertained
by a simple arithmetical process, as all fishing-rents
are proportioned correctly and carefully to the
number and value of salmon which can be caught.
The Spey is a fine wide stream, with a great volume

CH. XXXII. DESTRUCTION OF SALMON. 193

of water ; and although, like all Highland rivers,
subject to floods, is not liable to such sudden and
dangerous risings as its neighbour the Findhom.

The Dee, and many other rivers and streams, all
gladdening to the eye of the fly-fisher, pour their
waters into the German Ocean : with none of these,
however, have I a sufficient personal acquaintance
to enable me to describe their merits or demerits.

It is a matter quite beyond doubt that salmon
are decreasing every year in most of the Scottish
rivers. With short-sighted cupidity these valuable
fish are hunted down, trapped, and caught in every
possible manner ; and in consequence of this reck-
less destruction the proprietors of some salmon
rivers will, before many years have elapsed, lose
the high rents which they now obtain from sports-
men and speculators. Prolific as they are, fish, like
all other animals, must of necessity decrease, unless
allowed fair play and time to breed.

It is not the angler who injuriously thins their
number. The salmon is too capricious in rising at
the fly to make this possible. Nor, indeed, do I
think that any extent of fair river-fishing can exter-
minate them. It is the system of stake-net and bag-
net fishing which requires to be better regulated,
and placed under more stringent local laws. As
the fishing is now carried on, the salmon are almost

VOL. II. 0

194 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXII.

precluded from reaching their breeding -grounds.
The mouth of every river is flanked and hemmed
in by stake-nets and similar obstructions, against
which the poor salmon have not the least chance.
Coasting along the shore in search of fresh waters,
they find a fence which they cannot get through,
and which leads them directly into an ingenious
but most iniquitous puzzle of a trap. In fact, if
the object of proprietors and renters of rivers was
to exterminate salmon, they could not devise better
means to do so than those now practised. On the
other hand, the rents are so high — and they still
go on increasing — that the lessees are obliged of
necessity to use every means in their power to
pay all their heavy expenses and to obtain even
a moderate profit.

The individual who hires a salmon river as a
matter of trade and speculation cannot be expected
to be influenced by any other motive than wishing
to make the best of his bargain. His outgoings
are great ; he pays a large rent for the privilege of
dragging a net through the water ; he pays a rent
for the right of putting up stake-nets, bag-nets,
cruives, etc., all of which are exposed to injury and
destruction by flood and storm ; he pays numerous
servants and watchers, and has also the great ex-
pense of making and renewing his boats, nets, and

CH. XXXII. DESTRUCTION OF SALMON. 195

other valuable tackles — and yet he is the person
usually blamed as the destroyer of the salmon,
whereas, in fact, he is actually compelled, in self-
defence, to take every fish he can catch, in every
possible manner, as the only chance he has of
meeting all these heavy expenses. At the same
time it must be remembered that no one single
proprietor can do anything towards putting down
this ruinous system unless the neighbouring owners
on the same line of coast co-operate with him. A
pause for a few years in this wholesale destruction
would bring the salmon back to something like
their former numbers, and enable proprietors of
rivers to ask and obtain the same rents as they now
do, from English and other sportsmen who come
northwards for angling. At present, fly-fishing,
in many rivers which were formerly abundantly
supplied, is not worth the trouble — a mere umbra
nominis — excepting during the run of grilse ;
and this can only be remedied by a system of
unanimous and general preservation of the fish.

There is no necessity for restricting the sport
of the fly -fisher. Salmon will never be injured
to any great extent by this mode of taking them ;
and were the net -fishing better regulated, and
diminished, higher rents would not be grudged by
the sportsman.

196 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-ROOKS. CH. XXXII.

Excepting amongst anglers, the extent of the
trade of fly-making is little known. The number
of hands employed, men, women, and even child-
ren, whose small fingers are the best adapted for
imitating the delicate wings of the midge or ant,
and the variety of materials used, would astonish
the uninitiated. If any person will examine the
wings and body of a single Irish salmon-fly, he
will perceive how many substances are used, and
how many birds from every quarter of the globe
are laid under contribution to form this tiny but
powerfully attractive bait, which, were it less
carefully and skilfully constructed, would never
entice the wary salmon out of his resting-place
under some stone or rock, where, like a gourmand
in the snug corner of his club-room, he patiently
but anxiously awaits the arrival of some delicate
morsel.

DOGS.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Learned Dog and Show -woman — Education of Sporting Dogs
— Hereditary Instinct of Dogs — Their thievish propensities
descend to their offspring — Bad-tempered Dogs — Breaking
of Dogs — Their jealousies — Their Hunting alliances —
Attachment of a Dog to his Master — Dog-eating reprohated
— Bloodhounds — Skye Terriers — Dogs combining against
a common enemy — Old Dogs — Singular instance of sagacity
in one.

Although I am perfectly content with witnessing
the sagacity and instinct displayed by my own dogs
in their every-day employments and proceedings,
and am, generally speaking, unwilling to counte-
nance the trickery of what are called " learned
dogs," yet the other day, to please my children, I
allowed a woman, who sent up a most dirty-faced
card, announcing herself as the possessor of " The

MOST ASTONISHING LEARNED DOG EVER KNOWN,"

to exhibit the animal in our front hall.

The woman herself was a small sharp-looking
personage, with the sodden and hard expression of

198 EXTRACTS KIOM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII-

feature peculiar to that class who travel in cara-
vans, and exhibit dwarfs, giants, and suchlike
vamped -up wonders. The dog was a well-fed,
comfortable -looking kind of bull -terrier, slightly
rough about the muzzle ; but, notwithstanding his
quiet and sedate look, there was a certain expres-
sion of low cunning and blackguardism about his
face which would have stamped him anywhere as
the associate of vile and dissolute company ; and,
although he wagged his stumpy tail, and pretended
to look amiable at his equally cunning -looking
mistress, his attempts at amiability seemed to be
rather the effects of kicks and blows than of genuine
attachment. He received her caresses, too, with a
kind of uncertain appearance of pleasure, as if he
did not much value them, but of the two rather
preferred them to her kicks.

On entering the hall he cast a kind of hasty look
round him, much as you would expect a rogue to
do on entering a shop from which he intended to
purloin something ; however, on the woman pro-
ducing certain dirty cards, with their corners all
worn round by constant use, and marked with
numbers, letters, etc., the dog prepared himself for
action, with a preparatory lick at his lips and a
suspicious look at his mistress. The tricks con-
sisted of the usual routine of adding up figures,

CH. XXXIII. A LEARNED DOG. 199

spelling short words, and finding the first letter of
any town named by one of the company. This last
trick was very cleverly done, and puzzled us very
much, as we — i.e. the grown-up part of his audience
— were most intently watching, not him, but his
mistress, in order to discover what signs she made
to guide him in his choice of the cards ; but we
could not perceive that she moved hand or foot,
or made any signal whatever. Indeed, the dog
seemed to pay little regard to her, but to receive
his orders direct from any one who gave them.
In fact, his teaching must have been perfect, and
his intellect wonderful.

Now, I daresay I shall be laughed at for intro-
ducing an anecdote of a learned dog, and told that
it was " all trick." No doubt it was " all trick ;"
but it was a very clever one, and showed how
capable of education dogs are — far more so than
we imagine. For here was a dog performing
tricks so cleverly that not one out of four or five
persons who were most attentively watching him
could find out how he was assisted by his mistress.
The dog, too, as the woman said, was by no means
of the kind easiest to teach. She told us that a
poodle or spaniel would be far quicker in learning
than a terrier : but I strongly suspect that neither
of these kinds would have courage sufficient to

200 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

stand the corrections necessary to complete their
education, without becoming too shy to perform
their part well.

The woman, though clever enough in her way
and well spoken, was a melancholy specimen of a
peculiar class. Sold by her parents, if she ever
had any decided relatives of that kind, at an early
age to the leader of some itinerant party of rope-
dancers, or walkers on stilts — when she had mas-
tered these respectable sciences she acted in the
capacity of rope-dancer, or fifth-rate figurante, in
some fifth-rate theatre. Disabled by an accident — a
broken ankle — from following these employments,
she was reduced at last to travelling to country
fairs and markets in a painted caravan, the ill-used
companion of some whiskered ruffian, arrayed in
a fur cap, red plush waistcoat, corduroy breeches,
white stockings, and ankle boots — the invariable
dress of all masters of show-caravans. And now
the poor woman, ruined in health and mind by
hardship and dissipation, earns a precarious living
by wandering through the country, and exhibiting
her learned dogs, and her unlearned children, who,
by dint of beating and starving, had been initiated
into the mysteries of their respective callings. She
assured me, with great professional energy, that one
of my dogs, a large poodle, would make a first-rate

CH. XXXIII. HEREDITARY INSTINCT OF DOGS. 201

pupil, and I saw her more than once looking at
him with a longing eye.

Dogs, indeed, will learn almost anything ; but,
in teaching sporting dogs, much attention should
be paid to the qualities and education of their
forefathers. I am no advocate at all for cross-
ing pointers with foxhounds, etc., to increase the
strength and endurance of the animal ; all dogs so
bred will invariably give great trouble in their
education from an hereditary inclination to act
the hound instead of the pointer. There is quite
variety enough in the present breed of pointers to
improve your kennel, if you want any addition of
bone, speed, or courage.

I have seen a young pointer, who was only just
able to run out alone, point, and indeed back, as
steadily, and with as much certainty, as an old dog ;
but this undoubtedly would not be the case had
there been any cross whatsoever in his breeding.
The late Mr. Andrew Knight, than whom a more
practical and acute naturalist did not exist, paid
much attention to what he termed " the hereditary
instinct " of dogs. His woodcock spaniels were
chosen from puppies whose ancestors had been most
famous for woodcock-hunting ; and his rabbit dogs
from those whose parents had shown most skill in
rabbit-hunting. Some years ago I spent many a

202 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

pleasant half-hour in listening to his amusing and
enthusiastic descriptions of the " hereditary in-
stincts " of his favourite dogs.

There is certainly no class of dog in which this
faculty is more decidedly shown than in retrievers.
Although a retriever is frequently of a cross-breed,
yet if his ancestors for one or two generations back
have been well educated, and have had much prac-
tice in retrieving, he invariably requires little if
any teaching, and appears to understand the whole
of his business instinctively. I am convinced that
I have seen this inherited skill exemplified in one
of my retrievers, a curious kind of rough animal,
who resembles a Eussian poodle more than any
other dog. I bought him of a man who lived by
poaching, and other similar arts, when the dog was
six months old, and before he could have acquired
any very bad habits. The dog invariably showed,
and still shows, the most determined propensity to
steal meat and other eatables. Neither flogging
nor good feeding prevents him, and he carries on
his operations in so cunning and systematic a man-
ner, that I dread taking him to any friend's house
without instantly fastening him up. As long as
any person is looking at him, he remains in a state
of apparently the most innocent quietude ; but the
moment no eye is on him, abiit, evasit ; and to a

CH. XXXIII. THIEVISH PROPENSITIES OF DOGS. 203

certainty some joint of meat has vanished with
him, but whither, or how, no one knows.

Sometimes he manages not even to be suspected.
On one occasion five pounds of beefsteak suddenly
disappears. Every dog about the place is sus-
pected excepting Gripp, and he, " poor brute !" the
cook affirms, " cannot be the thief ; for he never
moved from the fire, where he was drying himself,
and he is the quietest dog in the world :" so says
my friend's cook, at the very time that the poor
good dog is suffering the most painful indigestion
from having swallowed so much raw meat in addi-
tion to his regular meals, and the extra scraps that
he has inveigled out of the cook by his unsophisti-
cated innocence. The next day half a haunch of
roebuck is gone : but Gripp still keeps his place
in the good graces of everybody. " It couldn't be
Gripp," is the universal cry ; " he wouldn't do such
a thing ! " At last Mr. Gripp is caught in the
very act of swallowing the remains of a pound of
butter, struggling in vain to bolt it at once ; but
the slippery lump will not go down. Then comes
a long train of circumstantial evidence, and a dozen
recent robberies are brought home to him.

Now the beast was always well fed, and was
only impelled to steal by an hereditary irresistible
impulse, handed down to him from his grandfather

204 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

and father, who both belonged to a race of poachers
in a country town, and had been taught to find
their own living. Beyond a question, Gripp in-
herited his system of morality from his respectable
ancestors, to whom also he bore the strongest per-
sonal resemblance.

By the same rule, never keep the puppies of a
notorious sheep-killing dog, nor of a bad-tempered
dog : they are sure to have the same inclinations
and tempers as their parents ; and you will find
it most difficult, if not impossible, to cure them of
these faults. The breeders and teachers of dogs
would much facilitate their own labours did they
pay more attention to the dispositions and habits
of the parents of the puppies whom they take in
hand.

Dogs have quite as different dispositions and
tempers as their masters. For my own part, I
would never take the trouble to bring up and edu-
cate puppies who showed either a sulky or a very
timid disposition. Neither of these faults can be
so completely got rid of as to make them satisfac-
tory assistants or companions. I say companions,
for I have so much regard for these animals, that I
like them as companions, and care little for dogs
who have only been taught to obey and hunt for
the gamekeeper. I am very far from intending to

CH. XXXIII. BREAKING OF DOGS. 205

disparage a kennel of well -broken pointers or
setters, and I delight to see them do their work
correctly, and with all their beautiful display of
instinct, although under the command of the game-
keeper only, and scarcely knowing their own
master's voice or whistle. Three or four brace of
perfectly-broken dogs pointing and backing without
fault is a sight that must interest and amuse every
person, whether sportsman or not : yet I far prefer
hunting my own brace of dogs, and seeing them
look to myself wholly for direction and approbation
instead of to my servant. Every dog, with an
average share of good sense and good temper, is
so eager for his master's approbation, that he will
exert himself to the utmost to obtain it ; and if this
fact were constantly kept in mind, the breaker-in
of dogs need seldom have recourse to flogging. In-
deed, I have no hesitation in saying that five dogs
out of six may be completely broken in without
a blow, and that, generally speaking, quiet, patient
reasoning with a dog is all that is requisite to
secure his obedience and attention. I know that
this is quite contrary to the opinion of most dog-
breakers, who think that nothing can be done with-
out a heavy whip and loud rating. But one thing
at least is certain, that when you do flog a dog, you
should do it soundly, and only when you catch him

206 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

" red hand " — in flagrante delicto. He cannot then
mistake why you flog him. Intelligent as this
animal is, still it cannot be expected that he should
know why he is flogged, if any time has elapsed
since the fault was committed.

Dogs have also a great deal of jealousy in their
dispositions ; and even this may be made to assist
in their education, as it makes them strive to outdo
each other. Every clever dog is especially unwilling
that any of his companions should possess a greater
share of his master's favour than himself. One of
my dogs could not be induced to hunt in company
with another, of whose advances in my good graces
he was peculiarly jealous. There was no other
ground of quarrel between them. When Eover
saw that a certain young dog was to accompany
me, he invariably refused to go out ; and, although
at other times one of the most eager dogs for sport
that I ever possessed, nothing would induce him to
go out with his young rival. He also showed his
jealousy by flying at him and biting him on every
possible occasion where he could do so unobserved.
At last, however, when the young dog had grown
older, and discovered that his own strength was
superior to that of his tyrant, he flew upon poor
Rover, and amply revenged all the ill-treatment
which he had received at his hands. From that

CH. XXXIII. ATTACHMENT OF DOGS TO MAN. 207

day he was constantly on the look-out to renew his
attacks ; but having soon established his superior-
ity, he thenceforth contented himself with striking
down the old dog, and, after standing over him for
a minute or two, with teeth bared ready for action,
he suffered him to sneak quietly away, for Kover
was too old a soldier to resist when he found him-
self overmatched. At last the poor old fellow got
so bullied by this dog, and by two or three others
whom I am afraid he had tyrannised over when
they were puppies, that he never left the front-door
steps, or went round the corner of the house, before
he had well reconnoitred the ground, and was sure
that none of his enemies were near him ; and yet,
in Ins battles with vermin or with strange dogs,
he was one of the most courageous animals I ever
had.

Although dogs form such strong attachments to
man, they seldom appear to feel any great degree
of friendship for each other. Occasionally, how-
ever, a couple of dogs will enter into a kind of com-
pact to assist each other in hunting. For instance,
I have known an old terrior who formed an alliance
of this sort with a greyhound, and they used con-
stantly to goj out poaching together. The terrier
would hunt the bushes, whilst the greyhound sta-
tioned herself quietly outside, ready to spring on

208 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

any rabbit or hare that was started; and she always
took the side of the bush opposite to that by which
the terrier had entered it. On losing his com-
panion, the terrier, who was becoming old in years
and cunning, entered into confederacy with a
younger terrier. In all their hunting excursions
the old dog laid himself quietly down at some
likely -looking meuse or run, and, sending his
younger companion to hunt the bushes, he waited
patiently and silently for any rabbit that might
come in his way. Their proceedings showed a de-
gree of instinct which almost amounted to reason.
So many stories have been told of the strong
attachment of dogs to their masters, that to enlarge
upon the subject would be superfluous. I must,
however, relate one anecdote which was told me
lately. A minister of a parish in this neighbour-
hood having died, his favourite dog followed his
body to the grave, and no inducement could per-
suade the faithful animal to leave the place. Night
and day, bad weather and good, did the dog remain
stretched on the grave. The people of the neigh-
bourhood, finding all their endeavours to entice
him away fruitless, and respecting his fidelity, fed
and protected him. This continued for several
weeks — indeed until some time after the manse was
tenanted by a new minister, whose wife, from some

CH. XXXIII. DOG-EATING REPROBATED. 209

wretched feeling of superstition, caused the dog to
be killed. May the mourners over her own grave
be better treated ! The source from which I
received this anecdote leaves no doubt upon my
mind as to its truth. I must own, indeed, that I
am greatly inclined to believe all stories which
exemplify the reasoning powers or the fidelity of
dogs. However marvellous they may be, my own
experience leads me to think that, although they
may not be probable, at least they are possible.

The dog is peculiarly the friend and companion
of man. In every country this is the case, and it
has been so in every age. There is one use, how-
ever, to which they are put, the propriety of which
I cannot admit, namely, that of being eaten. Being
decidedly a carnivorous animal, the dog can never
have been intended for our food ; and those nations
who eat dog's flesh, as the Chinese and certain of
the American Indian tribes, appear to me to be
guilty of a sort of cannibalism almost as bad as
if they ate each other. Yet we read accounts of
their being occasionally eaten in those countries
by our own countrymen, and actually relished.
Hunger, we all know, is a good sauce ; and per-
haps a young puppy may not be bad, though in
all probability those travellers would have found
an infant still more relishing. I confess that I

VOL. II. P

210 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-ROOKS. CH. XXXIII.

have as little inclination to try the one experiment
as the other.

There are two kinds of dogs which have been
bred in much greater numbers since the rage for
Highland shooting and deer-forests has become so
strong — I mean the Highland deerhound and the
old bloodhound. The former is immortalised in
so many of Landseer's pictures that, although deer-
stalking may be given up, the dog will for centuries
be remembered ; but the bloodhound is not so
generally used for this sport as it might be. If
greater trouble was taken in training bloodhounds
to the tracking of wounded deer, this species of dog-
would be invaluable to the sportsman. But to effect
this, it is absolutely necessary that they should be
taught to track quietly whilst led. Almost every
bloodhound pulls and strains on the collar, panting
and struggling to get forward on the scent, until
at last he becomes as blown and distressed as if
he had run full speed all the time : and, indeed,
more so. Besides which, as perfect silence is a
sine qua non in following up a wounded stag, your
object will very probably be defeated. Train the
bloodhound to keep pace with his leader, and to
track silently and slowly, "pari passu" whatever
scent he is put on, and he is then invaluable.
Many instances of the extraordinary powers of

CH. XXXIII. BLOODHOUNDS. 211

scent displayed by this dog in following wounded
animals have come under my observation, some of
which would appear incredible.

A bloodhound is easily taught to follow the track
of any stranger whose path he may come across
on the mountain or elsewhere. This faculty alone
makes this dog worthy of far more pains than are
ever bestowed on him. Keepers seem to think that
because he is called a bloodhound, and because
bloodhounds, in former days, were used for tracking
robbers and fugitives, that he requires no teaching
to enable him to follow any track which he is set
upon ; and masters generally leave these things to
their keepers, trusting implicitly to their verdict as
to the capabilities of the dog. But this opinion is
altogether erroneous. The bloodhound, to perform
his duty perfectly, requires education, like every
other dog. With a due degree of care, and fre-
quent practice when young, a well-bred blood-
hound will soon learn to track a man with unerring
correctness.

An extraordinary instance of this faculty in a
young bloodhound occurred some fifteen or sixteen
years back in Worcestershire, for the truth of which
I can vouch. At the house of a lady in the country,
where a young full-grown bloodhound was kept,
the harness- room was robbed during the night.

212 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

Some of the grooms, who found out the robbery at
an early hour in the morning, having heard that
bloodhounds would hunt men, took the dog out,
and put him on the footsteps, which at that hour
were plainly visible on the dewy grass. The dog-
immediately took up the scent, the servants fol-
lowed, and, after a run of twelve miles, came to a
cottage, where both the thieves and the harness
were discovered. It appeared that the thieves
had waded through a tolerably broad but shallow
stream : the dog scarcely came to a check here, the
scent appearing to remain in the morning mists,
which were still hanging on the surface of the
water. He went straight across, and at once took
up the scent on the opposite side of the river.

One of the most singular uses to which dogs are
put is truffle -hunting. I well remember, in my
younger days, a curious old fellow in Sussex
who gained his living, ostensibly, by this pursuit.
Accompanied by four or five quaint -looking
currish poodles of a small size, he used to follow
his trade, and generally hunted out a considerable
number of these mysterious but excellent roots.

The Skye terrier, though so much prized by our
English visitors, has by no means the determined
blind courage of the English bull-terrier. Never-
theless there is much quiet intelligence and charac-

CH. XXXIII. SKYE TERRIERS. 213

ter in this dog, and if well entered at vermin when
young they are useful enough. Like all terriers,
though eager hunters, they do not appear to hunt
so much to find as to kill ; and when in company
with spaniels they are apt to leave the latter to
search for the game, while they wait about the runs
and outside the bushes, ready to spring upon what-
ever is started by the spaniels. I have always found
this to be the case with my own Skye terriers, and
have observed it in others. These dogs generally
take the water freely and well, though I have had
smooth bull -terriers better swimmers and divers
than any rough dog I ever possessed.

Though dogs often disagree, and are jealous of
each other at home, they generally make common
cause against a stranger. Two of my dogs, who
were such enemies and fought so constantly that I
could not keep them in the same kennel, seemed to
have compared notes, and to have found out that
they had both of them been bullied by a large,
powerful watch-dog belonging to a farmer in the
neighbourhood. They suspended their own hos-
tilities, and formed an alliance, and then they
together assaulted the common enemy ; and so
well assisted each other that, although he was
far stronger than both my dogs put together, he
was so fairly beaten and bullied that he never

214 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIII.

again annoyed them or me by rushing out upon
them as we passed by the place, as he had always
been in the habit of doing before he received his
drubbing.

Unluckily, dogs, like men, will grow old and
deaf, and become a burthen to themselves and
others. Life is then no longer a matter of enjoy-
ment to them ; and the most merciful thing to do
is to have the poor animal shot. But we do not
always practice what we preach ; and, although I
am quite convinced that having a dog killed when
old, infirm, and rheumatic is doing him a kindness,
I could never bring myself to order the execution
of any of my old canine friends.

Hanging a dog is barbarous ; but when shot he
can feel but little pain, and he will be in the para-
dise— the "happy hunting-grounds" — of dogs
before he hears the report of the gun which sends
him there, and he can have no anticipation, or only
for a moment, of what is about to be done to him.
I must admit, however, that I was once told, and
by a credible person, an anecdote which went to
impugn this theory. His dog having been con-
victed of sheep-killing, he told a man to shoot him
the following morning. The dog was lying in the
room at the time, and apparently listening to the
conversation. Whether he understood it or not

CH. XXXIII.

CANINE SAGACITY.

215

I will not pretend to determine ; but the very first
time the door was open he bolted out, and never
asjain came within reach of his old master. This
seems rather a stretch of canine intelligence, but
it was told me as a true story ; and I am con-
vinced that the relater, who was the master of
the dog, believed it himself.

But I must close my chapter on this subject,
or I shall become insufferably prolix.

WINTER SKETCHES.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Grouse ; Hardiness of — Difference of Climate in Morayshire
— Migratory habits of Partridges — Grubs, etc., destroyed by
Pheasants — Ptarmigan — Ptarmigan-shooting during "Winter
— An Expedition to the Mountains — Early start — Tracks
of Otters — Otter-hunting — Stags — Herons — Golden-eyes —
Wild-cat — Mallards — Tracks of Deer — Gray Crows — Eagle
— Shepherd's hut — Braxy Mutton — Ascent of the Mountain —
Ptarmigan — Change in the weather — Dangerous situation —
Violent Snowstorm- — Return home — Wild -duck shooting
■ — Flapper-shooting.

Grouse, although frequenting high and exposed
situations, are perhaps less affected by a moderate
fall of snow than partridges or any other game. A
hardy and a mountain-bred bird, the grouse cares
little for cold ; and although the hillside may be
covered with snow, by digging and burrowing he
soon arrives at the heather, and thus obtains both
food and shelter ; and in weather which makes the
partridge cower and mope most disconsolately
under any shelter it can find, the grouse-cock, with
his well-clothed legs and feet, struts and crows on

CH. XXXIV. PARTRIDGES MIGRATORY. 217

the cold snow apparently in full enjoyment of life
and health. In this county of Moray the difference
of climate between the hillside and the flat lands
near the salt-water bays is very great — greater,
indeed, than would be supposed. Long after every
trace of snow has disappeared from the fields near
the Bay of Findhorn, the country four or five miles
to the southward, inland, is still deeply covered
with it. The large fir plantations certainly create
a mildness in the air which melts the snow in
their immediate vicinity ; but beyond the extent
of their influence the ground becomes colder and
colder, and the snow deeper and deeper, every mile
that we recede from the sea.

In October the summits of the higher mountains
are generally clothed in snow, and frequently hills
of a very moderate height are partially covered
with it. As soon as this occurs, a great many
partridges, black-game, and wild-fowl of all de-
scriptions migrate to their winter quarters.

Partridges are far more migratory in their habits
than is generally supposed. Every winter several
large unbroken coveys betake themselves on the
first approach of storm and cold to the quiet and
warm fields in the lower part of the country ; and,
when spring returns, pairs of partridges appear here
and there, on every little patch of cultivated ground

218 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

on the moors. These birds being almost entirely
granivorous, always select cultivated districts —
and indeed they only thrive where corn grows ; but
their actual consumption of corn is not great, for a
partridge is a moderate eater, and in part feeds on
the seeds of grasses and many weeds as well as on
corn. I am confident, as I have before stated, that
most, if not all, granivorous birds amply repay
the farmer for their food by the quantity of weeds
they destroy during a great part of the year. The
pheasant is in a great degree an insectivorous
bird, and feeds more on grubs, caterpillars, and
other insects, than on corn ; thereby relieving the
farmer from a whole host of enemies whom he
could in no other way get rid of.

During storms the ptarmigan burrow deep under
the snow in search of shelter and food. These
birds seldom descend far down the mountains, even
in the severest weather. When only the summits
are covered, they descend to the edge of the snow ;
but when the whole mountain is white, they do not
leave it for the lower hills, but find what shelter
they can by burrowing. Ptarmigan-shooting dur-
ing winter is a most laborious sport, and is fre-
cpiently attended with no small risk, owing to the
snow concealing the numerous clefts and dangerous
places which intersect the heights where these

CH. XXXIV. START FOR THE MOUNTAINS. 219

birds abound. The days, too, being short, and the
changes of weather frequent, the ptarmigan-shooter
must work carefully and quickly.

Some few years back, when living in the north
of Scotland, I was anxious to get a few ptarmigan
in their beautiful winter plumage, which is as pure
a white as the snow itself. It was late in the
season, and the ground was covered with snow ;
but as there had been a few days' frost the walk-
ing was by 'no means bad ; so I determined to
start in spite of the cold and snow, and the grumb-
lings of old Donald, who had but little inclination
for the pursuit.

Our plan was to reach a shepherd's house,
situated about ten or twelve miles — that is to
say, about four hours' easy walking — up the
course of the river ; there we were to sleep, and
to attack the ptarmigan on the following day —
the mountain where I expected to find them being
situated near the shepherd's house. At the first
break of day Donald and I left the house, accom-
panied by one quiet dog, whose personal inclina-
tions tended rather to otter-hunting and such like
pursuits than to grouse - shooting ; but his nose
was so good and his intelligence so great that in
cover-shooting and rough work he was invaluable.
Pointers would have been useless for ptarmigan in

220 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

the then state of the ground ; and I also thought
it not unlikely that we might fall in with the
track of an otter or wild-cat during our walk up
the river side.

As soon as we emerged from the woods a beau-
tiful sight opened to us ; the morning sun, although
not yet visible, tinged the mountain tops to the
west, their snow -covered summits shining with
all the varied colours of the rainbow : soon, how-
ever, the bright sun of a frosty winter's day rose
behind us, making the old birch-trees which grew
on the slopes above the river throw out their dark
shadows on the snow. Here and there a roe-
buck or two " stoitcd " (to use Donald's favourite
expression) over the turf wall into the shelter
of the fir- woods, out of which we had just come ;
the grouse -cocks were crowing on the juniper-
covered hillocks, which showed their lively green
above the surrounding snow ; and the blackcocks
launched themselves off the birch- trees, where they
seemed to have been awaiting the first rays of the
morning sun. Everything around us was full of
beauty ; and dreary as a mountainous country is
when covered with snow, still it is magnificent,
varied too as it now was by wood and water and
numerous living creatures, all appearing to be in
as full enjoyment of life as if it had been a genial

CH. XXXIV. OTTER-HUNTING. 221

morning in May instead of a most orthodox Christ-
mas-like day. The gray crows were just going
forth in pairs from the woods, calling to each
other with loud ringing cries, and all bending their
way straight to one point, where, as we afterwards
found, two drowned sheep had been cast ashore in
a bend of the river.

We walked on, and soon came across the tracks
of two or three otters, where they had been going in
and out of the water on their way up stream, after
fishing in the deep pools where the two waters met
near the house. These pools are favourite resting-
places for salmon and sea-trout, and therefore are
sure to be frequented by the otters.

Opposite to a strip of birch-trees one of the
largest otters seemed to have left the river and
to have made for a well-known cairn of stones,
where I had before found both marten -cat and
otter. Half way up the brae he had entered a kind
of cleft or hole, made by a small stream of water,
which at this spot worked itself out of the depth
of the earth. " He'll no stop in this," said Donald ;
"there's a vent twenty yards above, and I ken
weel that he'll no stop till he is in the dry cairn
forty yards higher up the brae." Nor was the old
man far wrong, for we found where the otter had
squeezed himself up to the surface of the ground

222 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

again, leaving a small round hole in the snow. We
carefully stopped up both entrances to this covered
way, and then Donald went on with the dog to
dislodge him from the cairn, having first given me
the strongest injunctions to " stand quite privately "
(i.e. quietly) a few yards from the hole which we
had just stopped up. The dog at first seemed little
inclined to leave me, but presently understanding
the service upon which he was to be employed, he
went off with Donald with right good will, putting
his nose every now and then into the tracks of
the otter in the snow, as if to ascertain how long-
it was since the animal had been there.

They soon arrived at the cairn, which was of
no great extent, and not composed of very heavy
stones. After walking round it carefully, to see
whether there were any tracks farther on, Donald
sent on the dog, who almost immediately began to
bark, and scratch at a part of the cairn. Donald
was soon with him, and employed in moving the
stones, having laid down his gun for that purpose,
knowing that the otter was quite sure to make
straight for the place where I was standing, if he
could dislodge him. Presently the dog made a
headlong dive into the snow and stones, but drew
back as quickly with a sharp cry. In he went
again, however, his blood now well up ; but the

CH. XXXIV. OTTER-HUNTING. 223

otter's black head appeared at a different aperture,
and now dog and man were dancing and tumbling
about amongst the snow and stones like lunatics, —
the otter darting from place to place, and showing
his face first in one corner and then in another.

Donald found this would not do ; so he again
commenced moving the stones. Presently he called
out to me, " Keep private, sir ! keep private ! the
brute is coming your gate !" Private I had kept
from the moment he had stationed me, till my
fingers and feet were nearly frozen. Donald seized
the dog and held him to prevent his running in
the way. All this passed in a moment, and I saw
the snow heaving up above the otter, who was
working through it like a mole, assisted, probably,
by the heather, which prevented it from being-
caked down in a solid mass, as would have been
the case on a smooth field. I knew that he would
appear at the hole which we had stopped, and
therefore I did not risk a shot at him.

He worked on until he was close to the hole,
when he emerged cpiietly and silently, and crept
towards the well-known place of refuge. On find-
ing it completely stopped up, the countenance of
the poor animal assumed a most bewildered ex-
pression of astonishment and fear ; and lifting
himself up on his hind legs, he looked round to

224 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

ascertain what had happened. On seeing me he
made off towards the river, with as long leaps as
the snow would allow him ; and as it was tolerably
hard, he got on pretty quickly till my charge of
shot put an end to his journey.

The report of the gun started two fine stags,
who had been feeding along the course of a small
open rill which ran into the river just above
where we were ; and I was astonished to see the
power with which these two great animals galloped
up the hill, although they sank deep at every
stride. When half way up, they halted to look
at us, and stood beautifully defined on the white
snow ; they then trotted quietly off till we lost
sight of them over the summit of the hill.
Donald in the meantime had carefully concealed
the otter under the snow (marking the place by a
small pyramid of stones), as I intended to have
him skinned on our return home.

The lakes and the still pools being frozen, we
saw several herons standing in their usual and
characteristic attitude, waiting patiently in some
shallow running water for any unwary trout that
might pass within reach of their unerring bills ;
and here and there a heron, who appeared to have
made his morning meal, was standing, as quietly
and as unsubstantial-looking as his own shadow,

CH. XXXIV. WILD-CAT. 225

perched on one foot on a stone in the middle of
the stream. A golden -eye or two were diving
earnestly and quickly in the quieter parts of the
river, taking wing only on my near approach, and
after flying some distance up the stream, coming
back again over my head, making with their
rapid pinions the peculiar clanging noise which
distinguishes their flight from that of any other
duck. They passed me unmolested, for had we
killed them they would have been useless. In-
deed no diving duck is fit to eat, with the excep-
tion perhaps of the pochard and scaup ; and even
these, although I have heard them much praised,
are far inferior to mallard, widgeon, or teal, which
are, in my opinion, the only British ducks worth
killing for the larder.

On leaving the birch -woods the country be-
came wild and dreary, and frequently we had
no small difficulty in making our way along the
trackless snow. The otters had turned off here
and there from the river, and we saw no more
of their footsteps. A wild-cat had been hunting
at one part of the banks, but had crossed where
some stones raised above the water had enabled
her to do so tolerably dry -footed. Although not
so unwilling to get wet as the domestic cat, this

animal appears to avoid the water as much as
VOL. II. Q

226 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

possible, though I have known instances of their
swimming rivers.

" We must try to get a brace of grouse or some-
thing to take up to the shepherd's," said my com-
panion, " as you're no that fond of braxy, sir, and
I doubt if we shall get any other 've-ni-son' there
the night." "Indeed I am not fond of braxy,"
was my answer ; " and a grouse or two we must
get." But we had first to eat our luncheon,
having breakfasted hastily at a very early hour,
and we determined to perform this ceremony at a
spring about a mile ahead of us ; and, as I remem-
bered having frequently seen a pair or two of
ducks about it in frosty weather, when we drew
near the place we advanced with great care, keep-
ing ourselves well concealed till within twenty
yards of the spot. " Now, then, Donald, you look
over the bank, and see if any ducks are feeding
on the grass about the well. If there are, you
shoot at them on the ground, and I will take them
flying." Donald wormed himself on a little,
regardless of filling his pockets with snow, and,
having looked cautiously over, beckoned to me to
come nearer, which I did. " There are six bonny
gray dukes feeding about the well, sir ; three
drakes and three dukes." " Take care then,
Donald, and get two or three of them in a line

CH. XXXIV. TRACKS OF DEER. 227

before you fire." After waiting a little with his
gun pointed towards the place, Donald fired one
barrel, and then as they rose the other. The
latter killed none — " ut rnos fait." However, as
only four rose (two of which, both mallards, fell
to my two barrels), I presumed that he had done
some execution with his first shot ; and sure
enough he had riddled two most effectually.

The place where the ducks had been feeding
was a bright green spot in the midst of the snow,
caused by the spreading of the waters of a fine
unfreezing spring. Around it, also, were the
tracks of several deer who had been cropping the
green herbage, and had evidently sunk to their
knees at every step which they made in the soft
ground. Two snipes also rose while we were
picking up our ducks.

As we ascended higher the river grew more
rapid, and was the only object in our view which
was not perfectly white. Having finished our frugal
luncheon, and swallowed a modicum of whisky,
we again " took the road," as Donald was pleased
to express it, although road there was none.

The grouse had entirely disappeared, and we
saw no living creature excepting a pair of gray
crows, who alighted under the bank of the river.
" There will be more of those fellows there," said

228 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

I. " 'Deed ay, sir ! do you mind those that we
saw at first starting ? they all came up this gate,
and we've seen none of them. I'd like weel to
get a good shot at them." We therefore went
quietly on to the place, the crows being quite
concealed from us by the bank. On looking over
it cautiously, there they were, indeed, a whole
flock of those most mischievous of all vermin.
" Now then, Donald, take care, and kill all you
can," said I. " 'Deed ay," was his answer, with a
quiet chuckle. The next moment our four charges
of shot were driving through the midst of the
crows, and such a family shot at these cunning
birds was not often made, as we killed or maimed
no less than seven. But the next instant, to our
mortification, a magnificent white-tailed eagle rose
not twenty yards from us, out of the bed of the
river, where he had been feeding on another
drowned sheep which had grounded there. He
was so gorged that he could scarcely get clear of
the banks. After a few wheels, however, he got
well launched, and was soon wending his way
towards the cliffs of the mountain ahead of us.
Donald almost wept with vexation, but for my
own part I did not regret the escape of the noble
bird so much.

Turning round a bend of the river, we came

ch. xxxiv. Shepherd's hut. 229

within sight of our resting-place for the night, but
it was still a long distance off. On the left, rising
with a clear outline in the bright sky, was the lofty
mountain where we intended to try for ptarmigan.
The snow, however, looked so deep on it that we
began to think we might as well have stopped at
home. But I was very anxious to get a few birds
in their pure winter plumage, and determined not
to give in, if any chance of success offered itself.
As we approached nearer to the shepherd's hut,
the hillsides, which were covered with fine old
weeping birch, presented a most beautiful appear-
ance ; and here we saw a great many blackcocks,
either perched on the leafless branches of the birch,
or trying to make a scanty meal of the juniper
berries, which they contrived to get at here and
there, where the snow was not so deep. I shot a
couple of fine old birds as they flew over our
heads from one side of the river to the other ; and
Donald missed several more, as shooting flying is
decidedly not his forte.

Our approach had been observed from a dis-
tance, and the shepherd was ready to receive us.
His wife, " on hospitable cares intent," hurried to
and fro, piling peats and fir-roots on the fire. I
had got wet at the spring where we killed the
ducks, and my trousers, higher than my knees,

230 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

were as hard as boards with the intense frost that
had come on as the evening set in. However,
" Igne levatur hieins " — I was soon thawed to a
proper consistency, and immediately began to
superintend the cooking of some of our game. In
as short a time as possible a stew worthy of Meg
Merrilies herself was prepared ; but with true
Highland taste Donald preferred, or pretended to
prefer, some "braxy" mutton which the shepherd's
wife set before him, the odour of which was enough
to breed the plague or the cholera anywhere but in
a Highland hut. " 'Deed, your Honour," said the
shepherd, "it's no that bad, considering we did not
find the sheep for some days after it died, and the
corbies had pulled it about a bit. The weather
was gey an' wet at the time, or it would not have
had such a high flavour ; but we steeped it a day
or so, to get rid of the greenness of the meat." I
thought to myself that, " considering " all this, to-
gether with the additional fact that the sheep had
died of a kind of inward mortification, the bowels
of Donald and the shepherd must be stronger even
than the " Dura illia messorum " which we read
of at school.

Our host was tolerably confident that we should
manage to get a few ptarmigan if we started early,
so as to make the most of the day, and if the snow

CH. XXXIV. ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN. 231

continued hard. " But for a' that, it will be no
easy travelling," was his final remark.

Before daylight I was up, and making my toilette
by the light of a splinter of bog fir. The operation
did not take long, nor did it extend beyond the
most simple and necessary acts. The " gude wife "
had prepared me rather an elaborate breakfast of
porridge, tea, and certain undeniably good barley
and oat cakes, flanked by the remains of my
supper, eggs, etc. As Donald seemed not to like
the expedition, I left him at the hut, with strict
injunctions to procure enough black game or grouse
to form our supper and next day's breakfast. The
shepherd took down a single-barrel gun, of prodi-
gious length and calibre, tied together here and
there with pieces of string ; and having twisted
his plaid round him, and lit his pipe, was ready to
accompany me. So, having put up some luncheon
in case we were out late, we started.

The sun was not up as we crossed the river on
the stepping-stones which the shepherd had placed
for that purpose, but very soon the mountain-tops
were gilded by its rays, and before long it was
shining brightly on our backs as we toiled up the
steep hillside. My companion, who knew exactly
which was the easiest line to take, led the way ;
deeply covered with snow as the ground was, I

232 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

should without his guidance have found it impos-
sible to make my way up to the heights to which
we were bound. " I'm no just liking the look of
the day either, sir," was his remark, " but still I
think it will hold up till near nicht ; we should
be in a bonny pass if it came on to drift while
we were up yonder." " A bonny pass, indeed !"
was my inward ejaculation. However, depending
on his skill in the weather, and not expecting
myself that any change would take place till
nightfall, although an ominous-looking cloud con-
cealed the upper part of the mountain, I went on
with all confidence.

Our object was to reach a certain shoulder of
the hill, not far from the summit, from which the
snow had drifted when it first fell, leaving a
tolerably - sized tract of bare stones, where we
expected to find the ptarmigan basking in the
bright winter sun. It was certainly hard work,
and we felt little of the cold, as we laboured up
the steep hill. Perseverance meets with its
reward ; and we did at last reach the desired
spot, and almost immediately found a considerable
pack of ptarmigan, of which we managed to kill
four brace before they finally took their flight
round a distant shoulder of the hill where it was
impossible to follow them. An eagle dashed down

CH. XXXIV. DANGEROUS SITUATION. 233

at the flock of birds as they were just going out of
our sight, but, as we saw him rise upwards again
empty handed, he must have missed his aim.

By this time it was near mid -day, and the
clouds were gathering on the mountain -top, and
gradually approaching us. We had taken little
note of the weather during our pursuit of the birds,
but it was now forced on our attention by a keen
blast of wind which suddenly swept along the
shoulder of the mountain, here and there lifting up
the dry snow in clouds. "We must make our way
homewards at once," said I. " 'Deed, ay ! it will
no be a canny night," was the shepherd's answer.
Just as we were leaving the bare stones a brace of
ptarmigan rose, one of which I knocked down :
the bird fell on a part of the snow which sloped
downwards towards a nearly perpendicular cliff of
great height : the slope of the snow was not very
great, so I ran to secure the bird, which was flutter-
ing towards the precipice : the shepherd was some
little distance behind me, lighting his everlasting
pipe ; but when he saw me in pursuit of the ptar-
migan he shouted at me to stop: not exactly
understanding him, I still ran after the bird,
when suddenly I found the snow giving way with
me, and sliding " en masse " towards the precipice.
There was no time to hesitate, so, springing back

234 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

with a power that only the emergency of the case
could have given me, I struggled upwards again
towards my companion. How I managed to escape
I cannot tell, but in less time than it takes to write
the words I had retraced my steps several yards,
making use of my gun as a stick to keep myself
from sliding back again towards the edge of the
cliff. The shepherd was too much alarmed to
move, but stood for a moment speechless ; then
recollecting himself, he rushed forward to help me,
holding out his long gun for me to take hold of.
For my own part, I had no time to be afraid, and
in a few moments was on terra firnia, while a vast
mass of snow which I had set in motion rolled like
an avalanche over the precipice, carrying with it
the unfortunate ptarmigan.

I cannot describe my sensations on seeing the
danger which I had so narrowly escaped : however,
no time was to be lost, and we descended the moun-
tain at a far quicker rate than we had gone up it.
The wind rose rapidly, moaning mournfully through
the passes of the mountain, and frequently carrying
with it dense showers of snow. The thickest of
these showers, however, fell above where we were,
and the wind still came from behind us, though
gradually veering round in a manner which plainly
showed us that it would be right ahead before we

CH. XXXIV. SNOW-STORM. 235

reached home. Every moment brought us lower, and
we went merrily on, though with certain anxious
glances occasionally to windward. Nor was our
alarm unfounded, for just as we turned an angle of
the mountain, which brought us within view of the
shepherd's house perched on the opposite hillside,
with a good hour's walk and the river between
us and it, we were met by a blast of wind and a
shower of snow, half drifting and half falling from
the clouds, which took away our breath, and nearly
blew us both backwards, shutting out the view of
everything ten yards from our faces.

We stopped and looked at each other. " This is
geyan sharp," said the shepherd, " but we mustn't
lose a moment's time, or we shall be smothered in
the drift ; so come on, sir : " and on we went. Bad
as it was, we did not dare to stop for its abating,
and, having fortunately seen the cottage for a
moment, we knew that our course for the present
lay straight down the mountain. After struggling
on for some time we came to a part of the ground
which rather puzzled us, as, instead of being a steep
slope, it was perfectly flat ; a break, however, in
the storm allowed us to see for a moment some of
the birch-trees on the opposite side of the river,
which we judged were not far from our destination.
The river itself we could not see, but the glimpse

236 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

we had caught of the trees guided us for another
start, and we went onwards as rapidly as we could
until the storm again closed round us, with such
violence that we could scarcely stand upright
against it. "We began now at times to hear the
river, and we made straight for the sound, know-
ing that it must be crossed before we could reach
home, and hoping to recognise some bend or rock
in it which would guide us on our way.

At last we came to the flat valley through which
the stream ran ; but here the drift was tremendous,
and it was with the utmost difficulty that we got
to the water's edge. "When there, we were fairly
puzzled by the changed aspect of everything ; but
suddenly the evening became lighter and the drift-
ing snow not quite so dense. We saw that we
should soon be able to ascertain where we were, so
we halted for a minute or two, stamping about to
keep ourselves from freezing. My poor dog imme-
diately crouched at our feet, and, curling himself
up, laid down ; in a few moments he was nearly
covered with the snow : but the storm was evidently
ceasing, at any rate for a short time, and very soon
a small bit of blue sky appeared overhead, but in a
moment it was again concealed by the flying shower.
The next time, however, that the blue sky appeared,
it was for a longer period, and the snow entirely

CH. XXXIV. SNOW-STORM. 237

ceased, allowing us to see our exact position ; indeed
we were very nearly opposite the house, and within
half a mile of it. The river had to be crossed, and
it was impossible to find the stepping-stones : but
no time was to be lost, as a fresh drift began to
appear to windward ; so in we went, and dashed
through the stream, which was not much above
knee -deep, excepting in certain spots, which we
contrived to avoid. The poor dog was most un-
willing at first to rise from his resting-place, but
followed us well when once up.

We soon made our way to the house, and got
there just as another storm came on, which lasted
till after dark, and through which, in our tired state,
we never could have made our way. Donald and
the shepherd's family were in a state of great anxiety
about us, knowing that there would have been no
possible means of affording us assistance had we
been bewildered or wearied out upon the moun-
tain. The shepherd himself was fairly knocked
up, and could scarcely be prevailed upon to take
either food or drink, or even to put off his frozen
clothes, before flinging himself on his bed. For
my own part I soon became as comfortable as pos-
sible, and slept as soundly and dreamlessly as such
exercise only can make one do. I must candidly
confess, however, that I made an inward vow

238 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

against ptarmigan -shooting again upon snow-
covered mountains.

No person who has not been out in a snow-storm
on lofty and exposed ground can form an idea of
its force, and the difficulty there is in ploughing
through the drifts and deep places ; I certainly had
no conception of what it was until that day. A
change of weather came on during the night, and
by noon the next day all was again bright and
clear, and we reached home with little difficulty.
The wind and drift had been much less severe
near the house, and the tops of the trees were still
covered with masses of snow, which the wind had
not been powerful enough to dislodge.

Before the ice and snow break up on the higher
grounds of the river there is generally plenty of
wild-fowl shooting about the open pools near the
sea. At the commencement of snow the birds are
usually tame enough to make the sport good, and
with the assistance of my retriever I often bring
home a heavy bagful of ducks, etc. ; but without a
retriever, and a good one too, wild-duck shooting
is utterly useless anywhere.

In wild-fowl shooting more than in any other
kind of sporting, a perfect knowledge of the ground
and of the different haunts of the birds is indis-
pensable. The sportsman must make himself

CH. XXXIV. WILD-DUCK SHOOTING. 239

acquainted with their feeding-places, their drink-
ing-places, their resting-places, and in fact with all
their habits, at all hours and seasons, and during
all changes of the weather : without this know-
ledge, which can only be acquired by experience
and careful observation, the wild-duck shooter will
brave the winter's cold and wind in vain.

A good sportsman, as regards other game, may
live for many a long month in a country abound-
ing with ducks without ever seeing one within
shot. Continually when I ask people about the wild-
ducks in any particular neighbourhood, the answer
I get is, " Oh, yes ! there are plenty of ducks, but
they always keep out at sea, and never come within
reach." Now if there are plenty of ducks out at
sea, it is a matter beyond all doubt that at certain
hours there are plenty of ducks feeding inland ;
and about the time when my informant is dressing
for his dinner, the wild-ducks are flying to and fro
in search of theirs in the stubble-fields, which they
invariably do as soon as the sun sets, and the fields
are deserted by the workmen and others.

As no bird is so easily scared from its usual
haunts as the wild-duck, all long and random shots
ought to be avoided, as tending to frighten away
the birds and to spoil all chance for some time to
come in that spot. Ducks, too, are capricious, and

240 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXIV.

changes of wind and weather induce them to fly
in different directions and to feed in different
fields ; and, as I have already said, nothing but
experience and observation can teach the sports-
man how to be tolerably sure of filling his bag
with these wary but excellent birds.

There is one kind of wild-duck shooting which
appears to me to be the very lowest of all kinds of
sporting, namely, that which is usually called "flap-
per-shooting," which means murdering large num-
bers of young ducks by dint of dogs, guns, sticks,
etc., at a time of the year when nine out of ten of
these birds cannot fly, and are utterly helpless and
unable to escape. A vast number of half-fledged
birds may be slaughtered in this manner, but they
are useless when obtained. For my own part I
would quite as soon go out to kill young grouse in
June or July before they could fly ; nor do I see
that killing " flappers " is at all less murderous or
more excusable. In fact no wild-ducks ought to be
killed till they are strong enough on the wing to fly
easily and quickly; nor are they worth killing for
the larder until they have fed for some time in
the stubble-fields, for till then their flesh is as
muddy and soft as that of a coot or moorhen.

HIGHLAND SHEEP.

CHAPTEE XXXV.

Introduction of Sheep into the Highlands — Aversion of High-
landers to Sheep ; disliked by Deer also — Prophecy — Activity
of black-faced Sheep ; instincts of — Mountain Sheep in enclo-
sures— The Plaid ; uses of ; various ways of wearing ; manu-
factures of ; invisible colours — Shepherds — Burning of
Heather — Natural enemies of Sheep — Shepherds' Dogs —
Origin of Dogs.

Until within the last few years the Highlanders
had a strong prejudice against the introduction of
sheep on their mountains. Their dislike to this
useful animal was founded on several causes. In
the first place the Celt dislikes any innovation or
change in his old customs ; in the next he had a
dread of clearances, i.e., of small holdings being
done away with, and merged in large farms ; and
he feared also that the black cattle, the former staple
produce of the Scotch mountains, would be again
forced to give way before these intruders ; and I
firmly believe that one of his greatest objections
to the sheep was that the red -deer have a strong

VOL. II. R

242 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

dislike to the company and smell of the woolly
strangers. I do not, however, conceive that this
antipathy on the part of the deer arises from any
aversion to the sheep themselves, but from a dread
of their accompaniments — the shepherds, shep-
herds' dogs, and the tar, the odour of which ap-
pears to be most distasteful to all wild animals.

I remember, too, being gravely told by an
ancient white-headed Celt, that there was an old
and undoubted prophecy, to the purport that the
Highlands would be overrun and ruined by a race
of " white dwarfs," and that this had now been
fulfilled by the introduction of sheep.

When the Cheviot sheep first came into the
North, the sheep-farmers brought with them for the
most part their own shepherds from the lowlands,
or rather from the borders; a fine stalwart race
of men, Armstrongs, Elliots, Scotts, and others,
whose names have long been famous among the
wild and dreary hills which rise between Scotland
and England : formerly reevers and harriers of
other men's cattle and chattels, they now follow
the more peaceful occupation of shepherds and
drovers ; and only occasionally show the fiery spirit
of their hardy ancestors by breaking each other's
heads at some border fair or market. But the
genuine Highlander has not, I think, yet sobered

CH. XXXV. BLACK-FACED SHEEP. 243

down into a good shepherd ; and the border men
still form the most persevering and careful guard-
ians of the large flocks which now fill all the
northern mountains.

In most parts the border sheep, the Cheviot at
least, have taken the place of the old black-faced
breed, being more profitable in wool, and growing
more quickly to a profitable size for the butcher.
I must own to having a strong prejudice in favour
of the picturesque little black-faced sheep, with
their long wool and horns. Nothing, too, can be
more adapted to our scenery than these animals ;
wild and active as goats, they scramble with the
sure foot of a chamois over the most impracticable-
looking rocks in search of some sheltered nook or
shelf where the grass is early and green, or for
refuge from any fancied danger. On the most
impassable -looking and perpendicular face of a
corrie, where there does not appear to be standing
room for a raven, the black-faced little fellows
wind their way in single file in search of favourite
spots of pasture.

A sheep, though correctly enough designated an
animal " patiens injurise," is by no means without
abundance of instinct and sense. "Watchful to a
degree, they are a constant annoyance to the deer-
stalker, who loses many a shot by the object of his

244 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

long and weary crawl and scramble being suddenly
warned of its danger by the cry of the sheep, a
loud sound between a hiss and a whistle. No
sooner does the reel-deer hear a sheep utter this
warning cry than he starts to his feet as if he had
heard a rifle-shot, and is off in an instant. Nor
does the red-deer ever mistake the direction from
which the danger is to be feared. Guided by the
appearance of the sheep, he sees at once which way
to go in order to avoid his unseen enemy.

Mountain sheep have a great foreknowledge of
alterations in the weather ; and I have frequently
seen them changing their ground in a body before
the commencement of a storm, which as yet was
not foreseen by myself. Nevertheless, the sheep-
farmer occasionally suffers great loss by drifting
storms of snow towards the end of winter, when the
sheep are weak and in poor condition. The length
of time that sheep will exist under snow is as-
tonishing, particularly when a number are buried
together, the warmth of their breath and bodies
keeping an open space round them sufficient for
breathing room. Floods occasionally carry them
off from the low lands near the mountain streams ;
and yet they are by no means bad swimmers. I
have seen black-faced sheep actually swim into a
creek of the sea to escape the pursuit of a dog ;

CH. XXXV. MOUNTAIN-SHEEP IN ENCLOSURES. 245

but in rapid currents they soon get subdued and
drowned.

Amongst other instances of sagacity in sheep, I
have often been amused by the perfect knowledge
which they have of the boundaries of the farm to
which they belong. From being frequently driven
back when found wandering, they soon learn the
exact boundary lines within which they are left
in peace both by the shepherd and his dog.

It is a mistake to suppose that the black-faced
sheep taken from the mountains are so very diffi-
cult to keep in enclosed fields. In the case of my
own small flock, which I keep for the use of my
family, I find that if brought from the open moun-
tain the sheep never attempt to get over the fences,
and content with their improved keep, and unused
to walls or palings, they do not seem to think it
possible to get out of the field. If, however, they
come from an enclosed farm, they generally have
already found out that fences can be surmounted :
and then nothing will keep them in ; once out,
they go straight off, wandering to considerable
distances, sometimes, indeed, making direct for
their former home. Broken walls and ill-kept
palings have taught them the use of their legs, and,
this once learned, they are active enough to get
over anything.

246 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

However wild the black-faced sheep may be
when first brought down from the mountains, those
which I have had very soon become quite tame,
and not only crowd round their daily barrows of
turnips in the winter, snatching them out of the
hand of the old man who feeds them, but soon,
after a little shy coquetry, will eat biscuits and
apples from the hands of the children, will follow
them into the house, and sometimes become such
pets, that their destined fate at the hands of the
butcher is often deferred sine die.

Though Highlanders are scarcely yet reconciled
to sheep as inhabitants of their mountains, they
know full well how to benefit by that most useful
product of their fleece — the plaid. Summer or
winter, the Highlander will scarcely ever stir out
without his plaid, and numberless are the different
modes in which he folds and wears it, so as best to
suit all changes of temperature and weather. I
have seen in a London paper an advertisement
offering to teach young ladies the use of the " fan "
in six lessons, for the moderate consideration of five
guineas. Although it seems incredible that the fair
advertiser can meet with pupils, yet it is clear she
does, or she would never incur the expense of long
and repeated advertisements. Now if some well-
skilled wearer of the plaid were to commence busi-

CH. XXXV. THE PLAID. 247

ness as teacher of the various ways and shapes in
which its folds may be arranged both for pictur-
esque effect and for utility, he would be far more
deserving of encouragement than the five guinea
teacher of the " use of the fan." The great advan-
tage of a plaid over every other garment for the
pedestrian, traveller, or sportsman, on the moun-
tain side, is, that in sunshine and dry weather,
folded in a rope-like twist round the body, it is no
encumbrance, and can be so disposed as to be
entirely out of the wearer's way, however much he
may have occasion to use his arms. Should, how-
ever, a cutting blast or a cold rain come on, the
plaid can be made to perform well all the offices
of a cloak, either short or long, and one that will
completely keep out a shower of any moderate
duration. Very little rain is absorbed by a plaid
if of good materials, tolerably new, and well put
on. The drops run off the long wool ; it takes
a long time before it begins to soak through, and
an hour's breeze dries it again.

I have shot through many a long day with a
plaid round me, without feeling in the slightest
degree encumbered by it, and knowing at the same
time that it was always at hand, like a friend in
need, to shelter myself and gun from the sudden
squalls of wind or rain which are so frequent on

248 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

the mountains during the autumn. When you are
seated in a pass, waiting for roe, the trusty plaid is
a most valuable friend ; or when waiting for wild
duck or swan, it covers you and your dog from the
shower of sleet or snow which would otherwise
frequently oblige you to wend your way home-
wards, perhaps at the very moment when your
chance for shots was the best.

The shepherd makes use of his plaid not only
as a protection against cold and wet, but also as a
pocket or bag in which to carry anything or every-
thing he may wish to take with him : one end being
sewed up, although it does not take away from the
general utility of the garment, forms a pocket of
wondrous capacity, in which, without inconvenience
to the wearer, no small amount of weight and bulk
may be carried. The weakly lamb often is taken
home in this warm receptacle, while the anxious ewe
follows, bleating incessantly, but apparently with
perfect confidence in the good intentions of her
master. In fact its uses are endless ; and those,
and those only, know its real value who have
thoroughly learnt how to put it on, so as to suit
all weathers, all states of the atmosphere, and,
above all, the direction and the power of the wind.

A good plaid is not, however, always to be
bought at a shop ; and unless the wool be new and

CH. XXXV. THE PLAID. 249

well spun, and the fabric tight and regular, it will
disappoint the wearer. When I speak of new wool,
I mean that the wool of which the plaid is made
should he new. But in these days, when all manu-
facturing processes are cheap, and the demand for
woollen goods enormous, great quantities of old
and worn-out clothes are ground, or rather teased
up again, with machinery invented for the purpose,
and are rewove into new cloth and plaiding. The
worthlessness of all goods in which this renovated
trash forms a considerable portion may easily be
imagined.

I am inclined to think that in the smaller woollen
manufactories such tricks are less easily and less
frequently played. At the bonny and pleasant
little town of Forres I have for many years had
most excellent and trustworthy pieces of plaiding
made for me, of all degrees of fineness and coarse-
ness; not only rough coarse fabrics, made of black-
faced wool, for a winter dreadnought shooting-coat,
impervious to cold or wet, but also the finest and
softest plaiding for ladies' dresses. Nor did I ever
put any of my Forres-made stuff into the hands
of a tailor, Scotch or English, without its being
pronounced superlative of its kind.

Nothing is so invisible on the hillside as the
common shepherd's check, of a small pattern. It

250 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

forms a tout ensemble of an indistinct gray colour,
which is most difficult to distinguish from a gray-
stone or rock ; indeed, at a certain distance this
kind of gray becomes almost invisible. I have
tried many shades of colour, but never found any-
thing so suited to purposes of concealment as the
common small-sized black and white check.

Dressed in this kind of stuff, and sitting motion-
less against a rock, I have seen a roebuck, or even
a red-deer, approach within a few yards of me
without the least suspicion, although I was other-
wise entirely unconcealed.

I am inclined to think that wild animals and
birds judge by the outline far more than by the
colour of any object, and immediately detect any
change in the shape of an accustomed rock or bush ;
and hence it is so difficult to look over your place
of ambush without being immediately discovered.
Variations of colour alarm them much less, because
all objects are perpetually changing their colour,
according as they are wet or dry, in sunshine or
in shade. In wild-fowl shooting I have often
observed that when placed even in front of a bush
I am not seen by the birds in the evening, but
that, however dark it may be, they take alarm if 1
show the smallest part of my cap above the bush.

A Highland shepherd leads, or ought to lead, a

CH. XXXV. MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 251

most active life. If he perform his duty zealously,
he has little time for idleness, for on a mountain
sheep-farm every season of the year demands con-
stant attention and activity. Sheep have some-
times an obstinate preference for those parts of
their pasturing ground which the shepherd parti-
cularly wishes to reserve for another part of the
year. The fresh green grass which ought to be
their food for the winter is equally attractive in
the earlier part of the year ; and they require to
be constantly driven away from the tempting spots.
Mountain sheep, when they have once found out
a favourite piece of feeding ground, be it grass
or even the shepherd's own bit of oats, are most
determined marauders. Although they are always
ready, conscious of their guilt, to fly at the first
distant appearance of the shepherd or his dog,
they are equally eager to return the moment
that the coast is clear. A skilful shepherd will
always endeavour to make such arrangements
as shall secure good feeding for his flock at all
seasons. On the green banks of many mountain
streams these animals can find food when the
higher grounds are white with snow. There are
long green stretches of this kind on the upper part
of the Findhorn, enlivening with their brightness
the dreary brown mountains of the Monaghleahd,

252 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-ROOKS. CH. XXXV.

through which the river flows. A certain portion
of the heather should be burnt every season, so as
to produce a fresh supply of young and tender
shoots. On these fresh patches all animals delight
to feed. The red -deer comes from the far off
corries, where he has lain in quiet, rest, and soli-
tude, to graze on the short, sweet plants of the
young heather which spring up the first season
after the hill has been burnt, and nothing so per-
fectly suits the grouse as these patches. Short
as the heather is, it is a region of abundance to
these birds ; and in rainy weather they take to
the bare spots to escape the wet dropping off the
higher and older plants.

Sheep, if allowed to do so, will feed so constantly
on the newly burnt heather as entirely to prevent
its growing ; and it is therefore necessary to keep
them off for a certain time to prevent this evil. It
happens frequently that by burning the heather
when it is too dry, or owing to some carelessness on
the part of the shepherd, the fire gets such power
that it cannot be checked when required, and thus
much damage is done, miles of hill are laid bare at
once, and the advantage of having a constant suc-
cession of food coming on is lost. When once the
fire becomes thus powerful, nothing stops it ex-
cepting heavy rain, or the accident of its burning in

CH. XXXV. BURNING- OF HEATHER. 253

the direction of some stream wide enough to form
a check to the devouring element. Plantations of
considerable extent are sometimes burnt. In
Strathspey this year (1848) a great loss occurred
from this cause. Heather for miles in extent was
burnt, and nearly a hundred acres of fine plantation
were destroyed before the fire could be checked —
a miniature imitation, in short, of the prairie
burnings of the far West. A large heather-burning
on a hillside has a most picturesque appearance in
a dark night, as the flames dance rapidly along the
slopes, making the surrounding darkness appear
still more deep. When the burnings occur too late
in the season, and during the time that the grouse
and black game have eggs, great destruction takes
place, not of the eggs only, but of the parent birds ;
whereas judicious burning is advantageous equally
to the sheep-farmer and the grouse-shooter, the
same succession of heather of different ages being
requisite for the well-being of both sheep and
game.

The wild enemies of sheep in Scotland are daily
and rapidly decreasing. A very few years ago the
sheep-farmer sustained great loss from foxes, eagles,
ravens, etc. ; even the common gray crow will take
to killing the new-born lambs, pecking out their
eyes as soon as the little animals are dropped, and,

254 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

if not killing them on the spot, leaving them to
perish miserably. The foxes on some of the more
inaccessible mountains still keep their ground, and
in the lambing season do an immensity of damage,
for this animal has the destructive inclination to
kill not only as many as she requires for the food
of her young cubs, but every lamb which she can
manage to get hold of, leaving the bodies on the
ground, or slightly concealing them.

I imagine that all animals who, like foxes, hide
a part of their prey, only return to this reserve of
food in the case of their not being successful in
their hunting for fresh game. All hiding birds and
animals prefer feeding on a newly killed prey, the
blood of which is still warm. Sometimes, if driven
by hunger or unsuccessful hunting, they return
immediately and dig up what they had laid by :
sometimes several days elapse before they return,
and often the hidden bodies are never re-visited
at all.

Eagles kill a considerable number of lambs,
carrying them up to their eyrie without difficulty ;
indeed a good shepherd, if he does his duty by his
master, has constant employment in watching and
guarding his charge. Without the aid of his dogs
the best shepherd would be perfectly helpless on
our extensive mountain ranges ; in fact, without

CH. XXXV. SHEEP-DOGS. 255

sheep-dogs the sheep would, in spite of all the
shepherd's exertions, be everywhere, anywhere,
nowhere: we should have to give up eating mutton,
or to stalk and shoot the sheep like red -deer.
This is not a fanciful assertion, but would abso-
lutely be the case. The very great sagacity of
these dogs in their own line of business is per-
fectly astonishing ; and I have frequently given
up an hour or two of my grouse-shooting to watch
the manoeuvres of a shepherd and his dogs, and
have thought the time well bestowed.

Some of the breeds of the Scotch sheep-dog have
a very strong resemblance to the wolf, so much so
as to lead one to adopt the theory that the domestic
dog, notwithstanding all its varieties of size, shape,
and disposition, is derived , originally from this
animal. The wild-dogs of Africa and India, who
in packs hunt down the larger wild animals, and
are said to worry to death even the lion and tiger,
are adduced as disproving this supposition. But
these wild-dogs do not appear to be the indigenous
and native denizens of the wilderness, but to have
originated from domestic dogs who, having become
ownerless, had turned wild. Although we all know
that the wolf can seldom be tamed, some few well-
authenticated instances prove that this animal
sometimes entirely throws aside its natural blood-

256

EXTKACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXV.

thirsty disposition. In the Edinburgh Zoological
Gardens there is a fine large wolf who shows as
unmistakable signs of gratitude and pleasure at
being caressed as any spaniel could do.

The wolf and dog of the Arctic regions resemble
each other so much in appearance as to induce
easual observers to suppose that they are very
nearly the same animal ; but, notwithstanding this
likeness, there seems to be the most deadly and
relentless warfare carried on between the two
animals.

The fox has in my opinion far less right than
the wolf to claim affinity to the dog ; at least the
relationship must be much more remote.

GAME-DEALERS.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Poulterers' Shops — Supply of Game — Red-deer — Deer killed
in the Fields — Roe — Grouse and Black Game ; calling of —
Shooting Hares by night — Pheasants — Advantages attending
the sale of Game by the fair Sportsman and the Landed Pro-
prietor— American Game — Wild -fowl in Shops — Bird-
dealers in Leadenhall Market — Norway Game — Manner of
collecting— Hybrids — Introduction of new species of Game
into Britain — Prolific Birds — Sea-fowl ; their breeding-places
— Solan Geese — Migration of Fish.

In these railroad-days, when carriage is so cheap
and expeditious, the poulterers' and game-dealers'
shops in most of the large towns of England and
Scotland are supplied with game of every descrip-
tion in quantities that are quite astonishing. Red-
deer and roebucks are to be bought everywhere,
and, I am sorry to say, at nearly all seasons.
Having easy communication, and constant dealings
and interchanges with each other, the poulterers
are able to supply to their customers almost any
kind of game which may be asked for.

VOL. II. s

258 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

A red-deer, killed in Perthshire or Argyleshire,
by the assistance of railway or steamboat, is in
Liverpool or Manchester long before he has been
sufficiently kept to suit the palate of a civic
epicure ; and the poacher has such facilities in
getting rid of his killed game that half the risk of
his occupation is gone. The stag is scarcely cold
before it is whisked off two counties away. '

Considerable numbers of red-deer are killed in
the neighbourhood of preserved places and forests
during the whiter season. When his natural
grazing becomes scarce, a stag, if there be a
turnip-field within half a dozen miles of his haunts,
is sure to find it out, and pay it nightly visits ; at
first, coming alone, but soon accompanied by a herd
of followers, who do great damage to the farmer
by trampling down and eating the turnips. The
owner of the field, if he has so little of a High-
lander about him as to be able to resist having a
shot at the deer himself, is sure to have some
hanger-on or acquaintance who will take the trouble
off his hands : accordingly, when the moon is of a
good age, a hole is dug in the middle of the field
during the day-time, while the nightly marauders
are miles away. Towards twilight the poacher
conceals himself in this rough hiding-place ; if
there is snow on the ground he puts on a white cap

CH. XXXVI. DEER KILLED IN THE FIELDS. 259

and shirt over his other dress, and waits patiently
till lie hears the tread of the deer. Having fed
with impunity more than once in the place, they
come boldly and without hesitation into the midst
of the field, scooping out the turnips with their
teeth and breaking them to pieces with their sharp
hoofs as they pass to and fro through the crop,
playing and frequently fighting with each other.
If the wind — that bugbear to deer-stalkers and
deer-poachers — does not betray the presence of
their enemy, it is more than probable that before
many minutes are over some unfortunate stag
comes close to the place of ambuscade, when he
receives either a couple of bullets or a handful of
slugs in his shoulder. Startled by the report, and
not at the first moment knowing whence it comes,
the rest of the deer are likely enough before they
make off to collect in a group in the middle of the
field, perhaps within a few yards of their hidden
enemy. If so, another of the herd is probably
killed, and the remainder rush off and do not return
to the same tempting spot for some little time.
Before daylight the hole is refilled, the dead game
is taken away, and no traces remain of what has
happened. Eoe are constantly killed in the same
manner, and are even caught in snares made of
strong small rope.

260 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

Black game and grouse are obtained by the
poachers in great numbers late in the season, by
means, not only of tame call-birds of both sexes,
but also by a call-pipe. However wild they may
be and inaccessible to the fair sportsman, these
birds can always be brought within shot by some
means. A cock grouse on hearing the well-imitated
call of the female immediately answers it, and,
approaching by repeated short flights, stopping
every now and then to crow as if in defiance of
any rivals, or to give warning of his coming, is
soon killed. The female grouse is attracted in the
same manner by an imitation of the call of the
male.

So pugnacious a bird as a blackcock is very
easy to call till he comes within shot of the con-
cealed shooter : and indeed partridges, and all
other birds, are attracted by those experienced in
imitating their different notes, in a manner and
with a facility which is quite surprising to the
uninitiated.

I am told that some poachers can even allure a
hare within shot during a moonlight night by imi-
tating the cry of one of its own species : this, how-
ever, is a fact for which I cannot vouch ; but many
poachers, from constant watching and following in
silence these animals, acquire such a perfect know-

CH. XXXVI. SALE OF GAME. 261

ledge of their habits, manner of calling to each
other, etc., that I by no means deem it impossible.
Hares, like deer, travel considerable distances
to obtain their favourite food, and are therefore
easily killed by the nightly poacher, either by being
snared or shot en route. Practice and natural
keenness enable some of these fellows to get the
animal to the summit of some rising ground, so that
the clear sky shall be behind it, and they can thus
shoot a hare on nights when there is no moonlight,
and when an unpractised pair of eyes would be
scarcely able to distinguish a house from a tree.

Pheasants are killed by snare and gun as easily
as barn-door fowls would be : so that the unprin-
cipled dealer in game has not the slightest difficulty
in keeping his shop full enough to supply the
demands of all customers at all seasons.

I can imagine no better system for sportsmen to
adopt than that of underselling the poacher as much
as they possibly can. In Scotland, in particular,
where the right to shoot game is bought, and very
often at a high rate, I can see no reason whatever
why the purchaser should not sell again what he
has paid for. In recommending this to the renter
of shooting-grounds, I only advocate his selling in a
fair and liberal manner his overplus of game; not,
of course, his hiring ground for the mere sake of

262 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

traffic and gain : but even when this is the case the
landlord has seldom much cause of complaint. In
the first place he, the landlord, makes a traffic of
his game by letting it ; and in the second place the
tenant, who in these commercial speculations is
generally a permanent one, if he wishes to make
money by the game, must take care to preserve
and increase it proportionably.

The custom of selling game is, I am glad to see,
becoming very general amongst the principal pro-
prietors. To the careless observer it may at first
appear an unjust proceeding for the landlord to
sell game which feeds on the farms of his tenants ;
but, practically, I scarcely know an instance where
the latter are not most amply remunerated ; indeed
the farmer can legally claim indemnification if his
landlord is so unjust and unwise as to refuse it.
It should be remembered also, that although rab-
bits, hares, and deer undoubtedly do much damage
to crops, all flying game are assistants rather than
enemies to the farmer.

In many of our larger towns the game-shops are
even supplied with birds from America, which are
brought by the steamers via Liverpool. The ruffed
grouse, a very beautiful bird, and excellent for the
table, a smaller species of grouse, and even the far-
famed canvas-backed duck, find their way over in

CH. XXXVI. AMERICAN GAME. 263

these rapid vessels. The latter bird, however, does
not seem likely to become a profitable article of
commerce, as the price at which it is sold in
America is greater than can be obtained for it in
this country. Although the canvas-backed duck
is a kind of pochard, yet, unlike our ducks of that
species, it does not feed by diving, but almost
wholly on the wild celery and other succulent
plants; and this it is which gives its flesh the
exquisite flavour so much praised by all who have
eaten it. Excellent as our own mallards are when
well fed in the corn-fields, the canvas-backed duck
is undoubtedly far superior.

Besides the common eatable ducks, such as the
mallard, the widgeon, and the teal, golden eyes,
scaup ducks, scoters, and indeed every possible
variety, are to be found in the large poulterers'
shops : swans, geese of all kinds (the bernacle
goose from Ireland principally, and the brent
goose from almost all our coasts), are to be had in
profusion : but these birds, and indeed all wild-
fowl, are so variable in their flavour, according to
the feeding-ground they come from, that the care-
fid buyer should always endeavour to learn where
they have been killed.

Strange as it may appear, mergansers, goosan-
ders, and all the fish-eating and rank-tasted birds,

264 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

even including cormorants and sea-gulls, find con-
sumers among the inhabitants of large towns, who
are exceedingly omnivorous, and by no means over
fastidious in their tastes ; and so wide is the range
of ornithological traffic in which the poulterers
engage, that the bird-stuffer and the collector of
specimens cannot do better than make friends with
them.

But beyond all other places, Leadenhall Market
is the emporium to which the purchaser of rare
birds and animals, living or dead, should betake
himself. There is scarcely a quadruped, from a
brown bear to a white mouse, or a bird, from a
golden eagle to a long-tailed tomtit, which cannot
be found there ; and not a few of the dealers in
these articles are themselves curious specimens of
the genus homo, accustomed to deal with every
description of customer, from the nobleman who
wishes to add to his menagerie or to the feathered
tenants of his lake, to the organ-boy who wants to
purchase a dormouse or monkey. They are as
shrewd as Scotchmen, and as keen bargainers as a
Yorkshire horse-dealer: but although somewhat
over-suspicious in making their purchases, and
sadly deficient in elegance of manner and language,
they are on the whole by no means bad fellows to
deal with, if care be taken not to " rub them

CH. XXXVI. LEADENHALL MARKET. 265

against the grain." Singing -birds, hawks, cats
with brass collars and chains, ready got up for
tabby -loving spinsters, Blenheim spaniels, and
wicked-looking bull-dogs, pigeons, bantams, gold-
fish, in short every kind of bird or beast that was
ever yet made a pet of is here to be bought, sold,
and exchanged, and frequently the collector may
obtain very rare and valuable specimens. Holland
and Belgium supply great quantities of wild-fowl,
canaries, carrier pigeons, etc.; and on a busy day
the traffic in this division of Leadenhall Market is
a most amusing sight.

One thing which especially surprises the visitor
to this market is the total defiance of the s;ame
laws which all the dealers indulge in. There is
scarcely a description of game which cannot be
bought here at any season, legal or illegal ; and it
is difficult to understand how game laws and their
penalties can be so openly and systematically in-
fringed. Pheasants and pheasants' eggs, grouse
and grouse eggs, etc. etc., are undisguisedly and
unblushingly sold at all seasons, in defiance of
informers and magistrates. On asking how it
happens that the dealers can supply game of all
sorts at all seasons, you are gravely told "that it is
all foreign game." Scotch grouse are called Nor-
wegian grouse, and good English partridges and

266 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

other game are libelled by being called Dutchmen
or Frenchmen. It is certainly true that vast num-
bers of white grouse come from Norway. These
birds, as well as the capercailzie, are caught or shot
as opportunity offers during the winter, are sub-
jected to the cold until they are thoroughly frozen,
and are kept in that state until a full cargo is col-
lected, or at least until a ship sails for London,
Hull, or some British port. Although perhaps as
many as eighty capercailzies may come over in one
ship, it is not to be inferred that these birds are so
numerous as to allow of this number being killed
in the course of a short time in one place. They
are generally obtained in very small numbers.
Each peasant brings in one or two : these are all
bought up and " frozen " by one general dealer,
who periodically, or as opportunity offers, sends
them to some poulterer in all-devouring England.
The same system is carried on with regard to the
Norwegian grouse or ptarmigan, the facility of
freezing the birds enabling the dealers of that
country to keep them until they have collected a
sufficient number. A capercailzie killed in winter
is to my taste scarcely eatable, owing to the strong
flavour of turpentine which then pervades the flesh
of the bird ; I have, however, eaten one brought
over early in the year, and it was almost as well-

CH. XXXYI. CAPERCAILZIE AND BLACKCOCK. 267

tasted as any of our British game. It is to be
hoped that in time we shall again see this noble
kind of grouse tolerably common in the extensive
plantations of fir and larch which are springing up
on many of our Highland mountains which hitherto
have been covered only by the heather.

Both in Scotland and Norway, wherever the
capercailzie and blackcock inhabit the same dis-
trict, hybrids between them are by no means un-
common. The difference of size between the male
capercailzie and the gray-hen is very great ; but
the female of the former bird is much smaller than
the male, being frequently very little larger than a
full-grown blackcock. Both species, too, being
polygamous, there is a greater chance of their
breeding together than of hybrids between the
blackcock and the grouse, those birds always pair-
ing. The blackcock is a perfect Turk in his
domestic establishment, taking to himself as many
wives as he can collect together, and keeping them
by force of arms against all rivals.

In the recent reintroduction into Scotland of the
capercailzie a spirited example has been set us ;
and there is no doubt that many other species of
grouse and game birds might be naturalised in
Britain. The ruffed grouse, for instance, and
several other species from America, and also phea-

268 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

sauts and other birds from the higher ranges of the
Himalaya mountains, wo aid not only be ornamental
but valuable additions to our woods and hills ; nor
can it be doubted that many of these beautiful
birds would do well and increase in this climate,
provided they were allowed for the first few years
to breed and multiply undisturbed.

On considering the immense quantity of game
and wild-fowl which is daily exposed in poulterers'
shops throughout the entire kingdom, the question
naturally suggests itself, " Will not these birds be
soon extirpated?" But, to all appearance, the
supply continues amply to meet the demand year
after year. By the beneficent arrangement of Pro-
vidence all birds adapted for the food of man are
far more prolific than the birds of prey, or than
sea-gulls and those other birds the flesh of which
cannot be eaten.

The nesting-places of sea-gulls and some other
kinds of water-fowl are curious things to see. The
constant going to and fro, the screaming, and
wheeling about of the old birds and the apparent
confusion are perfectly wonderful. The confusion
is, however, only apparent. Each guillemot and
each razor-bill amongst the countless thousands
flies straight to her own single egg, regardless of
the crowds of other birds, and undeceived by the

CH. XXXVI. NESTING-PLACES OF WATER-FOWL. 269

myriads of eggs which surround her. So, also, in
the breeding-places of the black-headed and other
gulls, every bird watches over and cares for her
own nest — though the numbers are so great, and
the tumult so excessive, that it is difficult to con-
ceive how each gull can distinguish her own spotted
eggs, placed in the midst of so many others exactly
similar in size, shape, and colour ; and when at
length the young are hatched and are swimming
about on the loch, or crowded together on some
grassy point, the old birds, as they come home from
a distance with food, fly rapidly amidst thousands
of young ones, exactly similar to their own, without
even looking at them, until they find their own
offspring, who, recognising their parents amongst all
the other birds, receive the morsel, without any of
the other hungry little creatures around attempt-
ing to dispute the prize, each waiting patiently for
its own parent, in perfect confidence that its turn
will come in clue season.

The breeding-rocks of the solan geese, the Bass
Eock in the Firth of Forth, and Ailsa Craig on the
west, will well repay the trouble of visiting them.
Eows of the nests thickly cover the ground ; and
wild and wary as these birds are at other times,
during the breeding-season they will not move from
their nests until actually lifted off by the hand.

270 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVI.

The eider-duck, peculiarly wild and shy as it is, is
equally tame while sitting, allowing herself to be
handled, and her nest to be robbed, not of its eggs,
but of the valuable down of which it is composed,
without attempting to move from it.

It is a singularly interesting sight to witness a
number of the solan geese fishing on a calm day in
the Firth of Forth. Following the shoals of her-
ring, these handsome birds dash one after the other
into the water with a force which is actually as-
tonishing, coming up (and almost invariably with a
herring in their bill) several yards from the place
where they made the plunge. They do not rise to
the surface gradually, like most divers, but sud-
denly, like a cork, or as if their buoyancy equalled
that of a blad der. The peculiar manner in which the
skin of this bird is attached to the body, leaving large
intervals where the flesh and skin seem scarcely at
all connected, may give it this peculiar lightness,
which to the spectator is extremely striking.

During the severe winter season the solan geese
disappear from the Bass Piock, going no one knows
where ; but even at that season two or three fine
warm days bring them all back again. Their
abiding places are probably regulated more by the
supply of food than by the weather.

I am by no means of opinion that either herring,

CH. XXXVI. HERRINGS NOT MIGRATORY.

271

salmon, or other so-called migratory fish, leave our
coasts during those seasons when they disappear,
or rather, I should say, when they are not caught.
I am more inclined to think that they always con-
tinue in the same neighbourhood, retiring only to
the depths of the ocean, where they rest quietly,
safe from nets, instead of betaking themselves, as
the general opinion is, to the other end of the
world.

FISHEEIES.

CHAPTEE XXXVII.

Supply of Fish in Scotland — Herring -fishery — Highlanders
coming to Herring-fishing — Fishermen of East Coast — Dif-
ference of Language in Nairn — Departure of Herring-boats ;
dangers to which they are exposed — Loss of Boats and Lives
— Fishing in good weather — Loch fishing — Fishing Sta-
tions on "West Coast — Fishing for Haddocks, etc. — State of
British Sea-fisheries.

The northern seas and bays of Scotland swarm
with fish to an almost unequalled extent ; and
although in many situations and districts consider-
able use is made of this bountiful provision of
nature, it cannot be doubted that much greater
benefit might be obtained from it.

As far as relates to commercial speculation the
herring holds the first place, or nearly so. The
fishermen on this eastern coast go out about the
middle of July, previous to which they have been
for some weeks employed in preparing their boats,
overhauling their tackle, and engaging extra hands,
generally Highlanders, who come down to the coast
at this season in order to hire themselves to the

CH. XXXVII. HIGHLAND FISHERMEN. 273

owners of the boats for the six or eight weeks
during which they are out at sea. These men earn
during the season from three to six pounds, a perfect
godsend to the poor fellows, whose eyes are seldom
gladdened by the sight of hard money during the
rest of the year. Just before the time when the
herring -boats go out, the roads are dotted with
little groups of Highlanders, each man having a
small parcel of necessaries tied up in a handkerchief
and carried on a stick over his shoulder. They
are sadly footsore and wayworn by the time they
have traversed the island from the west coast.
Being little accustomed for the most part to walk-
ing anywhere but on springy heather and turf, the
hard roads try them severely. Most of them are
undersized and bad specimens of the Celtic race.
Very little English is spoken amongst them, as not
one in ten understands a word of anything but
Gaelic. When they have occasion to go into a
roadside shop to purchase anything, or to ask a
question, a consultation is first held amongst the
party, and then the most learned in Saxon is deputed
to act as spokesman, for there is scarcely any Gaelic
spoken along the east coasts, the fishermen in par-
ticular being almost wholly a foreign race of people,
that is, not Highlanders. Some are English settlers,
and some are descendants of Danes and other races

who have originally been left by chance or choice
VOL. II. T

274 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

on this coast. Their names are frequently Danish
or Swedish. In fact they are altogether a different
people from the Celtic inhabitants of the neighbour-
ing mountains. There is an almost regular line
drawn through the country, where the Gaelic lan-
guage ends and the English commences. The town
of Nairn is divided by this line, one half of the inha-
bitants being talkers of Gaelic and the other speak-
ing only English. It is said that one of our prime
ministers boasted to a foreigner that his master, the
King of England, possessed a town so extensive that
the inhabitants of one end spoke a different lan-
guage from those of the other end. Nairn was the
town in question ; and whatever the merit of the
joke may be, it corroborates what I stated.

To return, however, to our Highland fishermen.
Wearily and heavily the poor fellows labour along
the road, and by the time they reach Forres, Nairn,
and the other towns near the shore, they are sadly
knocked up, their food during the journey having
been poor and scanty, consisting generally of pota-
toes, and perhaps oatmeal, mixed up frequently
with cold water, a sorry mess for a Highlander who
is taking the unaccustomed exercise of tramping
along a hard road. Many of these men know
pretty well where, and by whom, they shall be hired,
but others have to seek employment where they
can. Their faces grow visibly shorter as soon as

CH. XXXVII. HIGHLAND FISHERMEN. 275

they are engaged ; and they set to work, though
possessing little seamanship, to assist in putting
into order the nets, floats, stores, etc. In a few
days every boat is afloat and ready. Then comes
the parting-glass with their shore-staying friends,
which, by the by, is often multiplied until it
amounts to a very fair allowance.

As the boats set sail from the small harbours
and piers, the wives and families of the fishermen
who belong to the place come down to see their
relatives off ; and many groups of weather-beaten
women sit and watch the boats till out of sight,
discussing anxiously the chances of a good or bad
season, a matter of no light import to them, as
their comfort during the rest of the year almost
entirely depends upon it.

I have frequently seen some stout boy, strong
and fearless, but too young to be allowed to accom-
pany his father, hide amongst the nets, sails, etc.,
in the boats, hoping to get taken out unobserved,
till they were too far out at sea to send him back.
The little fellows, however, seldom succeeded, and
were generally chucked, unceremoniously enough,
out of the boat, either on to the pier whilst the boat
was passing alongside of it, or into some of the
numerous haddock and other fishing-boats which
lie at anchor in the harbour.

The herring season, although a time of hard

276 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

work to the men, is for the most part a time of rest
to the women. Instead of having to tramp, as they
shortly hope to do, miles into the country with a
weight of fish on their back which would be almost
a burthen for a donkey, they have little else to do
than to gossip with each other, and set lines about
the harbour and shores, excepting in those places
where the herrings are cured and put into casks
for foreign consumption, where they are busy
enough. The boats which go out from many of
our small towns seldom return home again until
the season is over ; but leave the produce of their
fishing at the curing stations every night if possible.
The herring- fishermen have not only much hard
work, but many dangers to contend with. Whilst
far out at sea tending their nets during the night-
time, storms of wind suddenly come on ; and a
scene of hurry and confusion ensues which can
scarcely be imagined. Anxious to save their tackle
and unwilling to lose any chance, the men in some
boats are busily engaged hauling up their nets ;
other boats are driving past them with everything
in confusion and their sails flapping in the wind.
Others, manned by more prudent and able hands,
who have forseen the coming storm, are scudding
with everything snug for the nearest port, and lucky
are the boats which reach it without loss of tackle
or life. Frequently, by waiting too long, whilst

CH. XXXVII. PERILS OF THE HERRING-FISHER. 277

endeavouring to save their nets, the poor herring-
fishers are placed in the utmost danger, and are
driven helplessly out to sea, where they either toss
about at the mercy of the winds and waves till
the storm somewhat abates, or are swamped and
lost, the men probably having been wearied out by
their efforts to keep the boat's head straight to
avoid shipping the broken waves which surround
them. The crews too, the chief part of whom are
generally landsmen, or, at best, men accustomed
only to the calm waters of the west coast lochs,
become disheartened and useless at the hour of
need, affording little assistance to the "skipper" of
the boat, who is probably the principal owner also,
and who, if he saves his life, has the prospect before
him of heavy loss or ruin. Many and many a
herring-boat flounders in this way at sea, her crew
worn out by their exertions. At other times an
inshore wind dashes the boats on the iron-bound
coasts off which they have been fishing, and the
crews perish before the eyes of their wives and
families. Instances have occurred of a crew reach-
ing some rock within a short distance of the shore,
and within hearing of those assembled on the beach,
who, after having vainly attempted to afford them
assistance, see the poor fellows gradually washed
off one by one as their strength fails them during
the rise of the tide. There are but few harbours on

278 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

the east coast into which the boats can run if
caught in a storm and driven away from the safer
parts of the coast. If a heavily laden herring-boat
is overtaken by rough weather, it is very difficult
to get rid of the cargo quickly enough to escape
being swamped. In fact the throwing them over-
board is a long operation ; and sometimes, when
they have a lucky haul, they load until the gun-
wale of the boat is but a few inches above the
water. In this case the shipping of a single wave
is sufficient to swamp them. A cargo of large
fish, such as cod or skate, may be thrown over-
board with some degree of quickness — not so a
cargo of herrings.

Although the months of July and August
generally pass over without any very dangerous
weather, September is frequently a season of
sudden squalls and storms on our coasts.

This year, 1848, one of these sudden storms
came on towards the end of the fishing season.
It reached from the north coast to near Sunderland,
beyond which place the wind was comparatively
light. The boats had gone out with a gentle
breeze, nor had there been any warning of bad
weather ; but before morning, on the east coast
alone, more than a hundred fishermen were drowned,
and the loss of boats, nets, etc., was immense.
Nothing could be more melancholily significant of

CH. XXXVII. LAYING THE HERRING-NETS. 279

the havoc which that storm had caused than the
fact of one fisherman bringing to his house fifteen
blue bonnets, the owners of which must have all
perished near the same spot. Fishermen are gene-
rally men with large families, and the numbers
of widows and orphans left dependent on the charity
of the world in these cases are always very great.

This is the gloomy side of the picture of herring-
fishing ; but it has its bright one, for I do not know
a more exhilarating sight than the fleets of herring-
boats standing out from all the larger towns between
Wick and the Firth of Forth on a fine day during
the fishing season. All along the coast, where at
other times the indolent habits of the fishermen
are prominently seen, everything now evinces life,
energy, and activity.

Hundreds of brown -sailed boats go out from
some of the harbours at once, the place resounding
with the loud but good-humoured greetings and
jokes, from one boat to another, as they pass with
all speed of sail and oar to the herring-grounds,
each eager to be the first to reach the place so as
to have choice of station. A fresh but gentle
breeze takes them merrily out, and their nets are
cast and fixed, buoyed up by their large round
floats, or by what are much used in some places,
prepared dogskins — a most unworthy fate for so
noble an animal. To make these floats they cut

280 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

off the head, and take the whole body out at the
aperture, leaving the skin otherwise entire. It is
then dressed and tarred over. The neck is stopped
up by a wooden plug made to fit it, and the skin
having been thus rendered water-tight is filled with
air, legs and all ; so that the float consists of the
entire dog minus his head. Blown up and extended
as it is, and black with tar, it is about as ugly but
as serviceable a float as can well be imagined.

The herring-nets being laid, the men, if the
shoals do not appear to be on the move, set to work
to fish for cod, halibut, etc., of which they frequently
catch great numbers, earning in this way a con-
siderable addition to their wages. Warned, how-
ever, by the cries and activity of the sea-birds, and
by other well-understood signs, all at once they
take up their lines, in order to attend to the main
object of their fishing, and in a few minutes you see
every boat hauling up the herrings which hang in
the meshes of the nets, and glance like pieces of
burnished silver as they break the surface of the
water. Sometimes the clog-fish do great mischief,
biting the herrings in two, and tearing the nets.
When, however, ail goes well, the nets are soon
hauled in, and the fish disentangled from them as
quickly as possible, and in a surprisingly short space
of time all is made ready for another draught.

CH. XXXVII. HERRING-FISHING IN THE LOCHS. 281

Sea-birds innumerable attend on the herring-
boats, finding it easier to pick up the dead fish,
whether whole or in pieces, which fall into the
water, than to dive after the living ones. The
larger gulls eat immense quantities. I was as-
sured that a black -backed gull has been seen
to swallow five goodly -sized herrings in rapid
succession. He was then so utterly gorged and
unable to move that he was caught. All these
flocks of birds enliven the scene — some, like the
gannets, dashing down from a height into the
calm water, and almost invariably catching a her-
ring ; others diving and attacking the shoals far
down beneath the surface ; while the gulls for
the most part feed on the maimed and broken fish.
Every bird, too, seems to be trying to scream
louder than the rest, and such a Babel-like mixture
of sounds can scarcely be heard anywhere else.
Altogether it is a most interesting and animated
scene, and to see it in perfection it is well worth
while to take the trouble of passing a night in a
herring-boat instead of in one's bed. In fact I can
truly assert that two nights spent many years ago
in herring-fishing have kept an honoured place in
my memory, and are looked back to as among the
most amusing of my out-door adventures.

A different mode of pursuing this fish is resorted

282 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

to when the shoals take to the lochs or salt-water
inlets on the west coast. The scene is then one of
singular interest and beauty. The fishing is car-
ried on in what looks like a calm fresh-water lake,
winding far up into the mountains, which, over-
hanging the water, echo back with startling dis-
tinctness every sound which is uttered on its smooth
surface. The picturesque rocks, dotted with noble
old birch-trees, with their weeping branches hang-
ing like ladies' tresses over the deep water of the
bay, and the gray mountain slopes above these, add
a beauty to the scene which is so unexpected and so
unusual an accompaniment to sea-fishing, that to be
understood it must be seen. Hundreds of boats
are actively employed in every direction, whilst
larger vessels lie waiting to get their cargo of fish
complete, and then stand out from the bay, winding
round its numerous headlands until they can take
advantage of a steady wind blowing from some one
certain point, instead of from two or three at once,
as mountain winds always do. In addition to these
vessels which are bound for Liverpool, Dublin,
London, or elsewhere, there is the Government
cruiser, distinguishable at once by its symmetry
and neatness, lying near the mouth of the loch, with
its tall mast and long yards, keeping order amongst
the thousands of men who are all rivals in the same

CH. XXXVII. STEAM-TUGS ON FISHING-STATIONS. 283

pursuit and all eager for the best places, or what
they consider as such. When she fires her morning
and evening gun, or makes any other signal, the
echo is repeated again and again loud and distinct,
and then dies away with a rumbling noise like far off
thunder, as the sound penetrates up some distant
glen. The deer feeding on the grassy burns of the
corrie hear it, and lifting their heads, listen intently
for some minutes to the strange sound, until having
made up their mind that it is not a matter that
concerns them they resume their grazing, only listen-
ing with increased watchfulness to every noise.

As the risks and expenses of carrying on the
herring -fishings are large, so are the gains con-
siderable, if the season is favourable and the fish-
ing lucky.

It would be a very great assistance and cause
of safety to the seamen on our northern and most
frequented fishing stations had they the advantage
of a few small steamboats, or tugs, such as we see
in such numbers issuing out of the Tyne and other
rivers of England, grappling with great black colliers
and traders several times as big as themselves, and
carrying them off (as a black emmet does a blue-
bottle fly) in spite of wind and tide.

One small steam-tug could tow a line, a perfect
Alexandrian line, of herring-boats to and from their

284 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

fishing-stations; and in the event of an approaching
storm, a change of wind, or other dangers, they
would be of the greatest use in bringing home the
boats, nets, etc., under circumstances in which, at
present, much danger and much loss of life and
property are sustained.

There is a general emigration from many of the
western stations as soon as the herring season is
over. Men, birds, beasts, and rats among the rest,
all desert them. Of birds the number is very great:
having assembled to feed on the refuse of the her-
rings, particularly at the curing stations, they now
depart in all directions ; whilst the rats have occa-
sionally been seen migrating in large numbers
from Wick and other places, and distributing them-
selves through the country, in order to change the
fish diet, which they have for so many weeks luxu-
riated on, for a vegetable one. On the east coast,
where the agricultural population is numerous,
the refuse of the herrings is used in great quantities
as manure, and being laid out in large heaps on
the fields preparatory to being mixed with other
substances, poison the air and attract great numbers
of sea-gulls, who appear very willing to exchange
fresh fish for that which is half rotten ; but a sea-
gull has a most convenient and unfastidious appetite,
thriving on anything that comes in his way.

CH. XXXVII. HADDOCK-FISHING. 285

The Highlanders who have assisted at the fishing
on the east coast now return home with heavier
bundles and purses, but lighter hearts ; however, I
fear that many of the inhabitants of the fishing
villages spend a great part of their hard-earned
wages in whisky instead of applying it to the
comforts of their families. Some are more pru-
dent, and lay the money by, in order that in due
time they may become owners of a herring-boat
themselves.

The inhabitants, at least the males, of fishing
villages are an indolent-looking race, going about
all their land occupations in a slow and lazy
manner, and being for the most part remark-
ably ignorant. But we should bear in mind that
they spend their nights at sea, in laborious and
fatiguing occupation, exposed to cold and wet,
and that it is only during their intervals of rest
that we see them, when they are lounging about
half asleep, and leaving to their wives the business
of preparing their lines and selling the fish.

The coiling of a long line, with about three hun-
dred hooks on it, is a mystery to the unpractised
and uninitiated. Each haddock -boat takes out
coiled lines with from two to three thousand baited
hooks upon them ; and yet so perfectly and skil-
fully are they arranged that they never catch or

286 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

entangle, but run out with as great certainty and
ease as a ship's cable.

The haddock-fishing on the coast is carried on in
smaller boats than the herring-fishing ; each boat
has, however, more hands on board, partly for the
sake of rowing, and partly of working these long
lines, or " shooting " them, as it is called.

The boats frequently run forty or fifty miles to
set their haddock and cod lines ; going from Nairn
and the adjacent fishing villages over to Wick,
where they are almost always sure of a plentiful
supply of fish.

Trawling for flat fish has not yet been tried to
any extent, but I have no doubt that it would be a
most profitable and useful speculation. At present
we get no soles, but occasionally some turbot are
caught : for these, however, the demand is confined
to a few of the neighbouring gentry; and, conse-
quently, this kind of fishing is not much practised.
A boat's crew does occasionally go out to fish for
turbot, using a very simple and small kind of hang-
net, and generally brings home a good supply.

Looking at the state of British sea-fisheries in
general, it appears to me undeniable that the ad-
vantage derived from this great and inexhaustible
source of wealth is as nothing compared to what it
might and ought to be. It is true that of late

CH. XXXVII. BRITISH SEA-FISHERIES. 287

years some enterprising individuals have done,
and are doing, a great deal towards improving
this branch of commerce ; and the speculations re-
cently entered into for the more regular and more
abundant supply of the southern markets will doubt-
less lead to more extensive competition and to im-
proved methods of fishing; but Government might,
I conceive, greatly promote this important branch
of national industry by regulating the size and
construction of the boats, which are often most
miserably inefficient, encouraging the fishermen in
every possible manner, affording them the protec-
tion and assistance of large vessels and steamers
at different points, during the busiest times of
the fishing season, expending sums of money in
tackle, boats, etc., to be repaid or partly repaid by
the fishermen, and also by having surveys made
and soundings taken off many parts of the coast,
in order to find out the banks and feeding places of
the cod and other large fish. The Dogger Bank,
and all the principal fishing-grounds have been dis-
covered by chance ; and it cannot be doubted that
were a careful survey made, many other equally
prolific localities would be found.

The fishermen would at once know, were they
provided with plans of the different depths, etc., of
the sea, where the best spots would be for fishing,

288

EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXVII.

according to the nature of the bottom, the currents,
tides, etc. But they are quite unable to make
these observations themselves from want of proper
boats, etc. ; nor can a simple fisherman afford to
spend weeks or days of fine weather in taking
soundings and making systematic series of experi-
ments ; and hence it is, as I said before, our best
fishing banks have been found out by chance.

In short, our fisheries, by careful attention on
the part of Government and by a very moderate
outlay of public money, might be made the source
of food and employment for thousands and tens of
thousands more of our suffering population than
are at present supported by them. The seas which
surround our coasts contain an inexhaustible supply
of wholesome and nutritious food, and nothing is
required to render it largely available to all but a
more efficient, systematic, and well-regulated mode
of procuring it.

APPENDIX.

VOL. II.

dti

THE VEKTEBEATE
FAUNA OF SUTHERLANDSHIEE.

By T. E. Buckley, B.A., F.Z.S., Member of the British Ornith-
ologists' Union ; and J. A. Harvie-Brown, F.R.S.E., F.Z.S.,
Member of the British Ornithologists' Union, President Royal
Phyl. Soc., Edin., and Corresponding Member of the
American Ornithologists' Union, etc. etc.

Introductory ; and Physical Aspects.

In the joint preparation of this account we have con-
sidered that while Mr. T. E. Buckley takes in hand the
eastern districts of the county, as having had greater
experience of that portion, Mr. Harvie- Brown should
undertake the western and northern portions for the
same reason, and it became advisable to define more
accurately the two districts thus separated. This was
done with comparative ease, as the high road between
Lairg and Tongue formed a very natural as well as con-
venient division ; Mr. Buckley knowing more of the fauna
to the east of that line, and Mr. Harvie-Brown more of
the fauna to the west of that line. An advantage is also
found in that it fairly well represents a natural division
between the high and rugged ranges of the western land,
and the smoother, more gently undulating, moss and moor-
land of the eastern division ; which latter, though it claims
amongst its most noticeable features several goodly
mountains, such as Ben Clibrick and Ben Armine, and a
wild stretch of deer-forest around Dunrobin, yet, is per-

292 APPENDIX.

haps better described as a vast waste of moorland with
oases of woodland, and in the east and south a consider-
able portion of reclaimed land and forest-growth.

Sources of Information.

Of published records of the Fauna of Sutherland, the
authors have consulted the following, which are believed
by them to represent all that has been published, or
nearly so : —

A Tour in Scotland. J. Pennant. 1769.

Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides. J. Pennant.
1774.

The Old Statistical Account of Scotland, consisting of 21 8vo
volumes, each of from 500 to 600 pages, published between
1791 and 1797, and containing separate accounts of no less
than 938 parishes, with many references to the Faunas of
these parishes, some of which are valuable, and others of
little use.

A History of the Earldom of Sutherland, to the year 1630,
by Sir Robert Gordon, Bart. ; first published in 1813, giv-
ing a curious account, often before quoted, 'of the Ferae
Naturae which roamed through the great old forests of those
days.

Macgillivray's British Quadrupeds (Naturalist's Library, vol.
xvii.) 1833.

On the Quadrupeds and Birds Inhabiting the County of Suther-
land, by P. L. Selby and Sir W. Jardine, Bart. Edin. New
Phil. Journal, January and April. 1836.

A Voyage round the Coasts of Scotland and the Isles, by James
Wilson. 1842.

The New Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xv., relating to
Sutherland, and published in 1845.

Wild Sports of the Highlands, by Chas. St. John. 1846.

The Birds of Sutherland and Ross-shire, by Milner. {Zoologist,
1848, p. 2014.)

A Tour in Sutherland, by Chas. St. John, in which a List of
the Birds of Sutherland is given. 1849.

A List of Fish that have been Found in the Moray Firth and in
tlie Fresh Waters of the Province of Moray, by the Rev. Geo.
Gordon. Zool. 1852, pp. 3454 and 3480. 1852.

Fish and Crustacea of the North-East Coast of Scotland, by the
late Lieutenant Dyce and George Sim.

This principally refers to "fish found in the vicinity of
Aberdeen," but is useful for comparative purposes.

APPENDIX. 293

Notes on the Ornithology of Caithness, by Messrs. Shearer and
Osborne {Proc. Royal Phyl. Soc. of Edinburgh, vol. ii. 1861).
1861.

In vol. iii. of the above, mention is made of various rare
species recorded as obtained in Sutherland and Caithness.
On the Distribution of Birds in Great Britain during the Nesting
Season, by A. G. More {Ibis, 1865). 1865.

A most valuable paper, Messrs. Shearer and Osborne

being still the only authorities quoted for Caithness,

and Mr. W. Dunbar (since deceased) the only authority

for Sutherland.

Sporting Days, by Mr. John Colquhoun. 1866. Contains a

chapter on the Wilds of Sutherland, and a List of the Birds

of the district, pp. 235-255.

Two papers in the Zoologist on Nesting Tours in Sutherland, by

J. A. Harvie-Brown. 1867 and 1868.
Colquhoun : Lecture on the Feraz Naturcc of British Isles. 1873.
Bell's British QuacMcpeds (2d Edition). 1874.
On Birds found Breeding in Sutherland, by J. A. Harvie-Brown.

Glasgow. 1875.
On tlie Mammals and Eepliles of Sutherland, by Edward R.

Alston and J. A. Harvie-Brown. Glasgow. 1875.
Supplementary Notes on the Birds found Breeding in Suthei'land,
by J. A. Harvie-Brown, F.Z.S. Proc. Glasgow Nat. Hist.
Soc, Sept. 1877.
Fauna of Scotland — Mammalia, by Edward R. Alston, drawn
up at the request of the Council of Nat. Hist. Soc. of
Glasgow. 1880.
Day's Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland (parts 1-7). 1880.
On the Birds of the East of Sutherland, by T. E. Buckley, F.Z.S.

{Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc, Glasgoiv, Ap. 26, 1881). 1881.
Manuscript List of the Fish of Caithness, with notes by C.
Peach, Esq. Kindly placed at our disposal for purposes of
the present Fauna. 1884.
List of Fishes of Banffshire, by T. Edward. Morris' Naturalist,
vol. v. 1855.

This referring to a county bordering upon the Faunal or

Catchment Basin of "Moray," we consider it desirable to

include for comparison's sake, but this has been worked

into Day's MS. List.

Contributions to the Ichthyology of Banffshire, by W. {i.e., Rev.

Walter Gregor), op. cit. 1855.
In Arbuthnot's Account of Peterhead there is what he calls " A
Nat. Hist, of the Fishes found on the coasts of Buchan,"
which is not of much importance, but may be mentioned.
1815.

The above, along with, our own note-books, journals, and
egg-books, the assistance of several kind friends resident

294 APPENDIX.

in the comity, and our personal observations conducted
therein, are the materials which are at our disposal for this
fauna. If imperfect in the part relating to fish, it is simply
because a great field for observation remains here almost
as yet untouched, and though many species are known
with almost absolute certainty to occur along the coasts,
yet the actual results are scarcely sufficient to formulate
anything like a correct estimate of the faunal value.

Geographical Position of Sutherland.

The counties of Sutherland and Caithness, the most
northerly of the mainland of Scotland, possess a very
extensive coast-line, together being more than three parts
surrounded by sea, and Sutherland itself having a sea-
board of at least two-thirds of its total circumference. It
is bounded on the west by the more northern portion
of the Great Minch, the channel that lies between the
mainland and the Outer Hebrides, — a rich and compara-
tively unworked area of the great Stornoway herring-
fishery. On the north and north-west the broad Atlantic
laves its great cliffs and headlands, a few solitary islets
alone intervening, such as North Rona and Souliskeir.
The eastern shores are washed by the waters of the North
Sea from the Ord — the Caithness and Sutherland march
— until the south-east corner is reached at Dornoch, and
here the southern coast is bounded by the still waters of
the Dornoch Firth.

The whole of this coast -line teems with fish, a vast
mine of wealth almost untouched on the west side ; but
the want of good and sufficient harbour and pier accom-
modation, especially on the more frequented east coast,
prevents the proper development of these fisheries.

The remaining portion of the east of Sutherland is
bounded by the eastern watershed of the Halladale and
Helmsdale rivers, the hills forming which, much higher
near the east coast, divide the famous grouse -moors of
Caithness and the Duke of Portland's deer-forest at
Berriedale from the great eastern moors of Sutherland.

APPENDIX. 295

Following the boundaries at the head of the Dornoch
Firth in the south, comes the Kyle of Sutherland, which
latter stretches its tidal waters inland to a little beyond
the mouth of the river Cassley. Proceeding westward,
the river Oykel resumes the office of the Kyle, and for
some ten miles, between Kosehall and Oykel Bridge,
separates this county from Ross-shire on the south. All
along this boundary line, and upon the northern bank of
the Kyle and river, runs the high road between Bonar
Bridge on the Dornoch Firth, and Oykel Bridge on the
river of that name. Between Oykel Bridge and Altna-
gealgach the high road crosses over a peninsular portion
of Ross-shire, which abuts upon the previous line of the
county march, and here the boundary, following the
Oykel river to Loch Ailsh, runs up to near Coinnebheal,
turning southward along the top of Braebag and out at
Altnagealgach, the high road again entering Sutherland
at this point. At Altnagealgach the march commences
on the south side of Loch Borrolan, and includes the
whole of the watershed of that loch to the top of the
Cromalt hills, the chain of lochs of which Veyattie and
Fewn are the chief, and the river Kirkaig, the latter con-
tinuing down to the sea, and separating Sutherland from the
county of Cromarty, which here approaches it on the south.

The total area of Sutherland, excluding water-areas,
is put down by the Ordnance Survey at 1,297,848
acres. In addition to this are the areas of fresh water
contained within its boundaries, amounting to 47,631
acres or thereby ; foreshore occupies 12,812 acres, and
tidal waters 1553 acres, or a total area of the whole
districts under our consideration of 1,359,845 acres, or
about 2124 square miles.

Of the land area 260,765 acres, or about 407 square
miles are occupied by waste or non-arable land, composed
of mountain or moorland, sheep-farm, and deer-forest, or
"links" of sand, such as those between the Dornoch
Firth and Dunrobin. Arable land occupies 31,787 acres,
or about 60 square miles, including the improved lands
at Lairg and in the parish of Kildonan, and the south-east

296 APPENDIX.

shore of Loch. Shin, as well as the scattered plots of
crofters' possessions here and there over the county, and
others of the less important areas.

Of the fresh-water area, the largest body of water is
Loch Shin, being 18 miles in length, and having an
average width of one to one and a half miles. This
great lake forms an almost continuous canal - way,
along with Lochs Griam, Merkland, More, and Stack,
between Lairg at the south-west end of Loch Shin, and
Laxford Loch on the west coast, interrupted only by the
watershed, of comparatively low altitude, between Loch
Merkland and Loch More. Other large sheets of water,
all holding salmon, or trout, or sea-trout and char, are
Lochs Naver, Laoghal, and Hope, in the north, connecting
with the Pentland Firth ; Lochs Assynt, Cama, Veyattie,
Fewn, and Urigill ; and Lochs Stack and More before men-
tioned. In the east centre are the large lochs, Badenloch,
Loch-na-Clar, and Rimisdale or Loch-na-Cuien, out of which
flows the Helmsdale river ; and in the south-east is Loch
Brora, through which flows the river of the same name, both
it and the Helmsdale running into the German Ocean.
Besides these larger reservoirs of water there are innum-
erable lochs, lochans, and tarns of smaller area, especially
numerous in the western districts of the county.

Besides the above, we have a wooded area of natural
birch-wood or planted ground, amounting in all, approxi-
mately, to 7296 acres, or about 11 square miles. By far
the greatest part of this area is in the south-east, between
Dunrobin and the Dornoch Firth, and, though somewhat
reduced of late, the woods around Bosehall. Also those
on the eastern bank of the river Oykel, and again at
Tongue in the north and Loch Inver in the west ; but of
these we will have again to speak when describing the
physical aspect of the county. Even this comparatively
small area of wood has a great influence on the fauna and
flora. The above figures refer in most part to the last
ascertained areas in Mr. M 'Donald's paper in Tlie High-
land and Agricultural Society's Trans, for 1880. It would
appear that in 1853 the woodland acreage was 10,812,

APPENDIX. 297

and in 1872 it had decreased to 7296. Since 1872 it
is probable that the wooded area has again increased to
10,000 acres to date of 1883.

The physical features of our Highland counties are
often indicated in the appropriate Gaelic names, usually-
descriptive of mountains, lochs, rivers, headlands, vales,
valleys, rocks, and islands. Scourie means the pointed
rock ; Stoir, the high-peaked cliff ; Meallmeadhonach, the
middle or central hill ; Ben Chaoran or Harran, a high
ridge contiguous with Ben More, means the hill of the
cloudberries ; Glasbhein, the gray {i.e. stony) hill. So
also Loch Gorm means the blue loch ; Loch Griam, the
hill of the sun ; Loch-an-Hard, the high-lying loch ; Loch
Clashmore, the loch of the great hollow, and so on. It
has often seemed to us desirable that some good Gaelic
scholar would work out all these interesting Gaelic names
and tabulate them in each county, with their correct
meanings : and we believe that Mr. Mackay of Portnacon
could largely contribute towards such a desideratum.

Description of the Physical Features of the
Eastern Division of Sutherland.

On the north coast, and east from the Kyle of Tongue,
the shore gradually rises, and ex adverso of this part are
small green islands, lying not far from the mainland,
principal among which is the island of Boan, which
is inhabited. At Naver Bay there is a considerable
extent of flat sandy coast, the only bit of any size of the
kind, until Sandside, on the Caithness side of the county
boundary, is reached. From here the coast-line becomes
bold and rocky, with vertical headlands of considerable
height, such as Skerra and Strathy Points, and occasion-
ally indented by small sandy bays of no great size, again
getting lower, flatter, and of a more sandy character as
the county of Caithness is approached.

The eastern coast-line of Sutherland consists mostly of
sandhills, stretching from Port Gower in the north to the

298 APPENDIX.

Dornoch Firth in the south. The hills, which from the
Orel to Helmsdale rise close to the sea, after passing the
latter place begin to recede farther and farther inland, thus
leaving an intervening flat, varying from one to two miles in
breadth, which is mostly under cultivation ; in two places
— Dunrobin and the Little Ferry — woods take the place
of fields, which here come down to the sea. At several
points along this line rocks crop up, which resist to a
certain extent the ravages of the sea, though the latter is
encroaching in some places very rapidly.

The whole of this eastern sea-board, which is rather
more than twenty -five miles in extent, presents but little
variety, the sandhills, which commence on the southern
side of the Helmsdale river, continuing with little inter-
mission to the Dornoch Firth. The beach affords a con-
venient nesting -place to such birds as the Arctic tern,
oyster-catcher, and ringed plover, and sheldrakes breed
in the rabbit-burrows in the sandhills. Wherever there
are sandy cliffs high enough to afford a secure nesting-
place, jackdaws build in numbers, and these do great
havoc amongst the eggs of the terns and oyster-catchers.

Certain rocks which are bare at half tide are frequented
by seals, mostly the Gray seal (Halichcerus gryphus), the
Firth seal (Phoca vitulina) being less common along the
open shore, though very abundant both in the Dornoch
Firth and at the Little Ferry. On one occasion the Harp
seal (Phoca Greenlandica) has been shot by Mr. Houstoun of
Kintradwell, but its value not being sufficiently known,
only the skin was preserved, and this was afterwards cut
up for various purposes.

The wave of migration seems almost entirely to leave
the Sutherland coast untouched, and this may account for
the very small numbers of migratory waders that are to
be seen, even in such an apparently favourable locality
as the Little Ferry : a few bar - tailed godwits appear
now and then, but even dunlins are scarce ; the mussel-
scalps attract great numbers of oyster-catchers ; and in
hard weather a good many golden plovers, driven off the
hills, come down to the shores. The only gray plover

APPENDIX. 299

known to have occurred on this part of the coast was
shot near Kintradwell, amongst some rocks, and was quite
alone ; these patches of rock, too, are a favourite resort
of the purple sandpiper, mixed with redshanks and a few
turnstones, though the latter often keep in small flocks
by themselves.

Leaving the coast-line, we next come to the cultivated
district which lies between the sandhills and the rising
ground ■ this presents but little interest, excepting that
the quail has been found nesting on one or two occa-
sions near Brora and also near Dornoch, as recorded by
Sheriff Mackenzie. The wooded district which occupies
a portion of the same area, and extends also higher up
the rising ground, is of considerable importance.

It may be as well to mention that there are no pine-
trees in Sutherland of any great antiquity, probably none
one hundred years old. The oldest now standing are situ-
ated between the Cassley and Oykel rivers, the next in age
being those at Kilcalmkill or Gordonbush, and Kintrad-
well, which were probably planted about the same time.
The great extent of country now under trees has all been
planted within the last sixty or seventy years. Such
an extent of newly planted ground, for so long a time
barren, must, and indeed now does, exercise a decided
influence on the fauna of the county. On the densely
wooded side of Ben Bhraggie the badger exists : — one of
the few remaining places in the county still frequented
by it, though formerly they were apparently common. —
The siskin nests here, too, and doubtless the crossbill also,
though the only place where the latter is known to do so
with certainty is in the Balblair wood at the Little Berry.
In the Uppat woods a female honey buzzard was shot in
July, which might well have been breeding, though no
nest has, so far, actually been discovered.

The greatest extent of wooded country lies in the
parishes of Dornoch, Creich, and Golspie, though almost
every parish possesses some newly planted ground, and
should this prove a success, no doubt still more land will
be thus treated : every strath, too, possesses some natural

300 APPENDIX.

birch ; of little value, however, except to give shelter to
game and sheep, but all having influence on the bird life
of the district.

In mentioning the cultivated districts, no account has
been taken of the large tract of country ploughed up and
reclaimed by the Duke of Sutherland in the parish of
Kildonan, but as yet this has had comparatively little effect
upon the fauna of that district. We understand, however,
that plantations have been laid out there, and there can
be no manner of doubt that, should the trees thrive, a few
years will see a marked change in many forms of life.

In the north and south-west of this district no hills of
any importance occur, but in the central districts the
country assumes a different character. Entering Suther-
land from the Caithness side, we find high ground all
along the south-eastern part of the march dividing the
two counties, one of the highest points being Cnoc-na-
neranach or "the Irishman," as it is generally called,
and we have on the same range an altitude of over
1300 feet close to the sea above Helmsdale. Most
striking of all are the two Bens Griam, rising as they do
in solid masses, straight from the wet flat moorland that
characterises that part of the county, giving them an
appearance of height even greater than that they actually
possess, which in itself is considerable, being close on
2000 feet. At one time both this hill and the "Irish-
man," before mentioned, were inhabited by ptarmigan,
but these have now been extinct there for some years,
though as late as 1881 a single ptarmigan was shot on
some flow ground near the first - mentioned hills, and a
bird, probably the same, had been seen on one of these
hills during the previous season.

South-west of the Bens Griam, and second highest of
the Sutherland hills, comes Ben Clibrick, 3164 feet.
From its rounded shape it does not convey the idea of
grandeur and height possessed by many smaller hills,
which have more rugged and rocky outlines. It is haunted
by every bird and beast that is dear to the Highland
sportsmen and naturalist, and was at one time one of the

APPENDIX. 301

best, if not the best, lull for ptarmigan in the county. Within
a few feet of the top is a spring of the coldest water. Its
eastern side is the most precipitous, and here the golden
eagle builds in safety, its nest being so placed as to be
iuaccessible, though the eggs may be easily seen. At the
foot of its eastern slope is Loch Choire, the head waters
of the Mallert (Mheal aird l) river, one of the principal
feeders of the Naver. Looking towards the east, from
Loch Choire, the rounded group of hills that form Ben
Armine rise, terminating in two high tops, Craigmore and
Craigbeg, the former being 2306 feet in height. The
ptarmigan is here fast dying out, very few being seen
now. The eastern side is fairly precipitous, and is at
times haunted by a pair of golden eagles, which are strictly
preserved by the lessee of the shootings ; the western side
is well wooded on its lower slopes, especially about Coir-
na-fearn, a very favourite resort of deer. Stretching all
round on the east and north are vast tracts of wet flow
ground, intersected by burns which fall wholly into the
Brora river, or rather that branch of it which is called the
Blackwater.

The other hills of importance are, Ben Uarie, 1923
feet, and Ben a Veallich 1936 feet, in the parishes of
Loth and Kildonan ; Ben Smeorale 1667 feet, and Ben
Horn 1712, both in the parish of Clyne ; and Ben
Bhraggie, in the parish of Golspie, 1282 feet. None of
these hills present that rugged, wild, and rocky appearance
that characterises those in the west ; they are for the
most part smooth and rounded, the higher ones in the
centre of the county covered towards the top with a coarse
grass, which shows a vivid green in the sunlight ; the
others, nearer the south and east, have heather growing
up to their summits, which gets coarser and more stunted
the higher it ascends. In some places, where the ground
is sufficiently wet, what is called " deer's hair " grass
appears, but this is more characteristic of the low, wet,
flow grounds.

1 In Ordnance Survey Map — inch scale — this is given "Abhainn
a Mhail Aird," correctly Abhuin a Mhael Aird or Mhcal Aird.

302 APPENDIX.

Although we have here mentioned the principal hills,
it must not be understood that the rest of the county is
quite flat, — far from it : the whole of the south-eastern
parts, extending along the Caithness march and from the
sea to the centre of the county, consists of moderately high
hilly ground, highest near the sea, and gradually lowering
in height inland until it ends in those large lochs and flat
wet flows out of which the principal rivers of the county
rise. This ground contains the most productive grouse-
moors of Sutherland, some of them rivalling the best that
Perthshire or Inverness -shire can show, though of late
years disease, from which they are still suffering, has made
sad havoc amongst the birds.

We have mentioned the word " flow " several times.
A flow is a wet tract of ground, generally flat, though
such can exist on a gentle slope where there has been no
artificial drainage ; this is covered by a short kind of
grass, which in autumn assumes nearly the colour of a
red-deer, hence its trivial name " deer-hair grass." Scattered
through this tract are small ponds locally called " bru-
lochans," some deep, others shallow : in the former a
pair of red-throated divers may often be seen, and their
nest found close to the edge, nor are they particular as
to the size of the lochans, as we have seen them in one
only about 25 yards long by about 15 broad. In the
shallow pools, great bunches of the pretty "cotton grass"
grow, and this is also scattered all through the flow dis-
trict. This grass, which is locally termed by the shepherds
" mossing," is of great importance to the sheep farmers,
because, being the first grass that starts up in spring, it is
of great service in helping the sheep to get into condition
after the long winter. These flows are here and there
intersected by deep, black, peaty water-courses, and these
lead into the sluggish burns (whose edges are covered with
good grass), which in turn meander lazily along, until,
as they approach their outlets, they gain more rapidity
and vigour. In the drier parts of the flow, heather grows,
much intermixed with reindeer moss and different sorts
of lichens. Grouse inhabit these drier places, and on

APPENDIX. 303

the bare hillocks the golden plovers have their nests.
Gulls of different species breed here, though, owing to
incessant persecution, are much rarer than formerly, i.e., —
those that are destructive to game or sheep, such as the
herring gull and the great and lesser black-backed gulls. —
If, in any of these larger " brulochans " we find a particu-
larly boggy island, inaccessible almost, owing to deep mud
and shallow water, there is often a colony of black-headed
gulls nesting, and a pair or two of ducks, teal, widgeon,
or, less commonly, coots. The wet flows themselves are
the abode of the dunlin; and the wild-goose, though
much rarer now than formerly, places her nest in a dry
tuft of heather.

The greatest flow district is situated in the northern
part of the parishes of Kildonan and Clyne, the central
part of the parish of Farr, and the southern part of the
parish of Eeay, the ground getting drier by the drainage
of the rivers of these districts as we approach the coast.

Having now given a general outline of the physical
features of the land of our eastern division, we come next
to speak of the rivers and lochs.

The rivers here included present in most cases a very
different appearance to those of the west, being of a less
wild and rapid character, and also less rocky, except
in their middle reaches. The Shin, however, is an ex-
ception to this rule, being rocky throughout nearly the
whole of its course. All the early spring salmon rivers
lie in this district ; the Naver, which issues from Loch
Naver, drains the greater part of the parish of Farr,
and falls into the sea on the north side of the county ;
the Helmsdale, which issues from the large lochs in the
centre of the county, drains the parish of Kildonan, and
falls into the sea on the east coast ; as does also the Brora,
which drains the greater part of the parishes of Clyne
and Eogart ; and the Shin, before mentioned, issuing from
Loch Shin, which drains the parish of Lairg and falls into
the Kyle of Sutherland in the east. These four all con-
tain early spring salmon. The next of importance is the
Halladale, which drains the parish of Keay, and runs into
the Pentland Firth.

304 APPENDIX.

The parishes of Dornoch and Creich possess no rivers
worthy of the name, the Evelix heing the most important,
and after that the Carnack, which runs into the Fleet, near
its mouth.

There are two small rivers, one indeed no more than
a large hum, which deserve a little notice. The first, the
Lothbeg Burn, has a course of only some six miles, but it
drains the wildest district in the whole of the east of
Sutherland. Rising in the Meallanlia hills it runs
through the ancient forest of Sletal, the hills rising on
each side almost perpendicularly. The celebrated Sletal
cairn is situated here, the scene of the death of the last
Sutherland wolf, and possibly the last stronghold of the
wild -cat in this part of the county, if such an animal
exists here at all. This river enters the sea through an
artificial cutting over which the railway now passes, but
at one time it flowed into a marsh, which is now one of
the best cultivated farms in the county ; this drainage
was effected by one of the present Duke's ancestors, who
thus reclaimed a large extent of valuable land.

The other river is the Fleet, very sluggish in its lower
reaches, and a great resort of sea -trout. At the mouth
of this river and going through the marsh that lies to the
south side of it, runs the high road to Dornoch, artificially
raised above the sea level, hence its name, the " Mound."
This mound was erected to keep the sea from the low
lying grounds immediately inland, and sluices are placed
at the mouth of the river to allow the surplus water to
run off at low tide. This low lying ground is covered
with alders and long grass, and is the best place in the
county for wild-fowl, as they have the estuary of the
Little Ferry, the only place of the kind entirely in the
county, to resort to when disturbed inside, and vice versa.

Lochs are not nearly so numerous in the east as in the
west of the county, but still there are some magnificent
sheets of water. Perhaps Loch Naver and Loch Brora bear
off the palm for beauty, as their banks, and the slopes of the
hills adjoining, are partially covered with trees ; and, on
the latter at least, bird life is abundant. At the head of

APPENDIX. 305

Loch Brora is a marsh where we have seen as many as
thirty widgeon drakes together, and this in the breeding
season.

The lochs in the centre of the district, desolate though
they at first appear, have a wild beauty of their own.
Badenloch, Loch-na-Clar, and Loch Biniisdale or Loch-na-
Cuien, lie close together, the two first in fact running into
one another, being only partly separated by a narrow spit
of sand, which terminates in a heathery hillock. On this
spit of sand, in former times, was situated a manufactory
of flint arrows and spear-heads ; and flakes of flint and
churt are yet to be seen, together with the remains of
ancient fires ; in the long heather that fringes this hillock
the reed-bunting places its nest for want of a better sub-
stitute, and round the gravelly and sandy shores of the
loch the ringed plover lays her eggs.

This chain of lochs is the gathering ground for the
remnant of wild-geese that remain to breed in the dis-
trict, but these birds are decreasing yearly from some
unknown cause, as they are now never shot, as used to be
the case in former years, when as many as seventy, young
and old, were sometimes killed in a single day.

Other lochs worthy of note are, Loch-an-Ruair and
Liam-na chlaven, in the northern part of Kildonan parish,
Loch Choire, in the southern part of Farr parish, and
Loch Migdale, in the parish of Creich, this latter remark-
able as being the only loch possessing pike in the county.

"Western and Northern Portions.

Mountains.

The great divide or backbone of Sutherland stretches
northward from near the southern boundary, in the south-
west of the county, to the limits in the north, of the Beay
Forest, and then turns eastward by Ben Hope and the head-
waters of the rivers running northwards to the Pentland
Firth, terminating about the centre of the Caithness
March.

VOL. II. X

306 APPENDIX.

The panorama of mountains opening up to view as the
traveller approaches from the east by the mail road
between Lairg and Assynt is not perhaps equalled in
peculiarity of outline by any other in Scotland, although
it may be excelled in grandeur by the almost Norwegian
vastness of Coruisk in Skye, or the Komsdal-Horn simi-
larity of the great mountains at the head of the narrow
Loch Duich in Ross-shire.

Beginning in the south, we will mention the strange
isolated mountains of W. Cromarty and Assynt, which
meet the astonished gaze of the westward-bound traveller
who for the first time penetrates among these further
Highlands of Scotland. First, far to the southwards, from
certain points of view is seen Ben Mohr Coigach (2438),
with its peculiar hog's back or sierra -like ridge ; Stack
Polly (2009), with its splintered pinnacles of conglomerate ;
the rounded lumps and cones of Bens Coul Beg (2523) and
Coul More (2786) ; the extraordinary terraced cliffs and
sugar-loaf peaks of Sulbhein (2399) ; and the massive, far-
receding slope and summit of Canisp (2779); with, lastly,
the magnificent yet isolated range of Quinaig, whose
numerous peaks reach elevations of from 2508 feet to
2653 feet.

Then, again, we find the attention attracted by the
more continuous nature of the real backbone of hills ;
commencing in the south with Braebag (2044), rising
rapidly upwards into the scarred and fretted face and
summits of the huge Ben More, and its still bigger brother
Coinneveal (Coinnemheall), 3273 and 3234 respectively,
the highest peaks in Sutherland, — then follow, in a bold
amphitheatric curve, Ben Chaoran (2500), Ben Uidh
(2384), and Glashbhein (2541).

Away to the north and north-west extends a perfect
multitude of mountains, chief amongst which are those of
the Reay Forest, stretching from Ben Stack in the west
(2364) and Ben Hee (2864) in the east, north-east to Ben
Hope (3040), and including the isolated Ben Laoghal in
the Tongue district (2504). To the north-west, and
towards Cape Wrath, are Ben Arkle (2578), Foinnebhein

APPENDIX. 307

(2980), Graim Stackach (2630), Ben Spionnaidh (2537),
and Fashven (Fashbhein) (1504). The stony tops of most
of these great mountains are granitic or quartzose, and in
the Reay Forest, of upper gneiss, covered with a soft
carpeting of mosses and lichens on the summit-plateaux.
Lower down the material is similar, but it is clothed in
heather and grasses. The bases are in great measure of
similar formation, except where the great outcroppings of
the Durness and Assynt limestones appear, as at Durness,
and in the great cliffs of Stronchrubie, Knockan, and
Elphin, or where, as in Ben Stack, the Hebridean gneiss
occurs, or interspersed with the Torridon conglomerates,
as in the case of Quinaig, Canisp, and Suilbhein.

The vegetation of the limestones, as might be expected,
is singularly rich and luxuriant, producing amongst the
excellent general sheep-pasturage some rare Scottish wild-
flowers, such as Dryas octopetala and others.1

The marvellous springs of clearest and coldest water
which gush out of the Assynt limestone cliffs, the trans-

1 Our thanks are due to Messrs. Lionel Hinxman and Ben. N.
Peach, of the Geological Survey of Scotland, for the following List
of Plants found by them on the limestone of Durness — principally
on the islands of Eilean Hoan, and the Skerries, and Eilean Garbh
—in July 1883 :—

Ranunculus acris, Cochlearia officinalis, Viola canina, Polygala
vulgaris, Silene maritima, Arenaria serpylliflora, Cerastium triviale,
Sinum catharticum, Trifolium ripens, Anthyllis vulneraria, Lotus
coeniculatus, Potentilla anserina, P. tormentilla, Dryas octopetala,
Sedum rhodiola, Ligusticum scoticum, Heracleum sphondylium,
Archillea millefiorium, Daucus carota, Gallium verum, G. aparine,
Knautia arvensis, Artemesia absinthium, Leontodon taraxacum,
Antennaria dioica, Bellis perennis, Onopozdium acanthium, Carduus
arvensis, Heiracium (spec. ?), Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea,
Gentiana campestris, Myosotis arvensis, Euphrasia officinalis,
Thymus serpyllum, Prunella vulgaris, Armeria maritima, Cheno-
podium album, Rumex pulcher, R. acetosella, Utica dioica, Orchis
maculata, Scilla verna, Lugula campestris, Juncus acutiflorus,
Plantago coronopus, P. maritima, P. media. Besides the above
flowering plants, these gentlemen also found the following grasses ;
and Asplenium marinum amongst the cryptogams : —

Grasses. — Anthoxanthum odoratum, Phleum arenarium, Alope-
cuous pratensis, Agrostis vulgaris, Holeus lanatus, Poa annua, P.
pratensis, P. maritima, Cynosurus cristatus, Dactylis glomerata,

308 ArPENDix.

lucent, ultramarine blue of the lakes near Durness, as
well as the thick coating of lime encrusted upon the iron
kettles and domestic pots and pans, not to speak of the
delicious white-fleshed, crustacea-fed trout of the burns,
all speak to the great beds of calcareous formation which
underlie the gneiss, and crop out at various points in the
west and north, and which, near the farm and shooting-
box of Ledbeg, and again near Loch Alsh, harden and
whiten into a very pure and white marble, long known
and worked as Assynt marble.

This limestone is a very marked feature in the land-
scape, and a not unimportant factor in the zoological con-
ditions. Amongst these clear streams there is a rich
crustacean fauna and other lower forms of animal life.
We consider that the limestone of Durness has even left
its impress upon the Salmonidas of its streams and lakes.

The wild and rugged scenery of the west of Sutherland
is not, however, due entirely to the vast masses of moun-
tain, nor even to their peculiar shapes and isolated
positions, though undoubtedly these are very important
factors. Besides the greater majesty of the hills, there
are many wild and sinuous valleys and picturesquely-
grouped combinations of lesser elevations, which introduce
a charm which one might look for in vain if the hills stood
alone in all their nakedness. There are wooded lakes and
birch-clad hollows, heathery knolls and gray lichen-covered
boulders, sparkling rivers and cascades ; and there are the
quaint, and quiet, and "bonny" peat-reek shealings, and
closely-nestling crofts and cabins — abundant scope for the
artist, who complains of the vastness of the subjects
presented by the higher mountains and wider valleys.

Yet, again, we find bleak, water - sodden moors, with
sedgy-margined lakes — the home of the dunlin and the
golden plover, and haunted by the weird shriek of the
rain-bird or red-throated diver (Cohjmbus septentrionalis)

Festuca orata, Triticum actitum, Lolium perenne. Of all these
plants and grasses the following are found on Eilean Garbh : —
Cochlearia domica, Armeria maritima, Rumex (spec. ?) Airiplex
hastata, Plantago maritima, and a thin maritime grass.

APPENDIX. 309

— but these are mostly confined to the south-west of our
western district, and to the bleak upland moors of Durness
and Cape Wrath, in which latter district they roll along
with vast wavy undulations, like a heather-clad prairie,
reminding one of an Arctic tundra more than any other
part of Scotland we can recall to memory.

The marvellously broken and sinuous nature of the
whole western land, and markedly of Assynt and Eddera-
chyllis, affords many natural basins and resting-places for
sheets of water of varying depths and areas.

Of inland valleys perhaps the most remarkable and
the finest in aspect is the long narrow Glen Canisp,
studded throughout its lower reaches with lovely smiling
lakes and rivulets, but receding in darker grandeur
towards the hills. The Pass of Stronchrubie and the
approach to Loch Assynt by the base of the gigantic lime-
stone cliffs, where the holly-fern and the wall rue flourish,
and where great stems of ivy and holly find clinging room
and roothold in its buttresses, — is also well worthy of
the admiration of the traveller. The great pass also by
the lakes of the Reay Forest, between the head waters of
Loch Shin and the mouth of the Laxford, is wild and
grand in the extreme. Nor can we omit mention of
the "Melancholy Strath of Dionard," ten long dark-
shadowed miles of valley between the shooting-lodge of
Gualinn and the Kyle of Durness. As we first witnessed
this dreary valley, with the snake-like course of its native
stream — the Dionard or Grudie — we could not recall a
weirder, wilder scene in Scotland, not even if we remem-
ber the great moor of Rannoch in Perthshire, or the inter-
minable moors of the eastern division of the county.

Inland Lochs and Rivers.

The parish of Assynt alone is said to hold over 300
lochs of various sizes. Edderachyllis is not far behind,
but Durness is not quite so honeycombed. These gems,
set in the dark moorland or high on the shoulder of one
of the monarchs of mountains, glisten and dance in the

310 APPENDIX.

joy of summer sunshine, or fade and gleam more darkly
in the winter rain and snow-drift. The variety of lovely
scenery which is presented by the ever-shifting panorama
of light and shade on mountain, mere, and river, during
a drive on a fine day through Assynt and Edderachyllis,
can scarcely be excelled by anything in Scotland. Perhaps
one of the very loveliest of the smaller lakes is Loch
Beannoch, near Loch Inver, but there are many that
rival it in beauty. With the scarred and torrent-torn
sides and towering form of Quinaig throughout its whole
western range for a background, with a middle distance
of lesser heights and tarn-held hollows, and the fore-
ground Loch Beannoch, with its birch-clad, heron-inhabited
islets and shore, with a rich-tinted gleam of western sun-
light purpling the heights and reddening the debris slopes,
and casting into shade the nearer outlines, one can scarcely
imagine a more fairy-like scene. Or, if we choose the
wilder beauties of Loch Assynt, — surrounded by ramparts
of hills, and backed by the vast forms of the Assynt
mountains, — its edges but partially clad in birch-wood, and
its immediate shores precipitous and rocky, let us view it
both in its quieter loveliness, and, best, in the wild grandeur
of a storm, when masses of dark cloud roll rapidly across
the stern outlines of the hills, and the unearthly shriek
of the red-throated diver sounds like the last call of a
drowning child.

Some of these lochs are margined by granite slopes and
fed by springs of purest water, such as those on the higher
ramparts of Ben More, and the great corries of Glasbhein
and Ben Uidhe. These teem with the lower forms of
life. Others at lower elevations are fed by the limestone
burns, and these are full of Crustacea, and yet others are
fed by peaty, soft-tasted water, growing the yellow water-
lily in abundance, covered with vegetable life, and rich
also in water-insects and zoological stores of wealth. By
far the larger proportion of these lochs is inhabited by
trout, some by salmon and sea-trout in season, and others
by char, but a few are or have been originally destitute
of piscine life. Had we space we could dilate upon some

APPENDIX. 311

of the extraordinary peculiarities of the inhabitants of
certain others.

Many of these lovely sheets of water are studded over
with birch-clad islets, under the branches of which nourish
the giant fronds of the great royal fern (Osmunda regalis).
Other islets are heather-clad, a few grassy, and all are
sown or planted by nature's own hand only.

Nor is life absent here in the bright summer-time.
The sweet plaintive song of the willow - warbler, the
startling cry of the common sandpiper, the trill of the
dunlin, the " Teoch-vingh " of the greenshank — from
which this last species gets its Gaelic name — or the wail
of the curlew, and the discontented chatter of the gulls,
are ever constant to the ear. The heron builds her
unshapely nest on birch-trees, only a few feet from the
ground, and the hooded crow flies silently on predatory
quest intent, whilst close to shore, off some green island
in the centre, swims a black-throated diver, occasionally
uttering his hoarse and gutteral greeting to his mate, as
she sits on her two dark olive eggs, only a few feet from
the water's edge.

Principal amongst the lochs of Assynt and the west of
Scotland for their beauty are Assynt ; for its grandeur
Beannoch, near Loch Inver ; and Loch Awe, near Inch-
nadamph, for quiet loveliness and loneliness ; Loch Cama,
near Aultnagealgach, for its grand background of hill and
mountain, and its wood-clad islands ; and Loch Urigill,
also near Aultnagealgach, for the bleakness of its surround-
ings, and of the Cromalt Hills, and its own vividly-green
contrasts and innumerable water-fowl. There are many
others, too numerous to name, but we must not omit men-
tion of Loch Shin, a desolate and dreary expanse, narrow
and ditch-like, but rich in piscine treasure ; and Loch More,
Loch Stack, Loch Merkland, and Loch Griam, all lovely
in their own peculiarities of outline, foreground, and dis-
tance. High amongst the hills around Goberneasgach, in
the Duke of Westminster's deer-forest, are some curious
nooks and corners, and peculiar lakes, holding some strange
varieties of trout. At Durness there are others, such as

312 APPENDIX.

Loch Maedie, in the centre of a peat moor, giving birth
to the Smoo Burn, which falls into the roof of the wondrous
Smoo Cave, in the limestone of Durness ; Loch Crassapuil,
close to the Manse of Durness, with its bright clear sand,
and vivid green water, and silvery-sided trout most closely-
approaching Salmo levenensis. Also Loch Borralaigh, with
its char and subterranean outlet communicating with Loch
Crassapuil below, and hundreds of others, scarcely one of
which is not worth some passing notice, which, however,
our space forbids us to attempt. Yet we cannot pass by
the strange little pools which perch high on the shoulder
of Ben Hope, holding in their clear depths innumerable
char of goodly size, nor can we omit to mention the
drearier beauties of Loch Laoghal, Loch Slam and Craggie
near Durness, or of the many other lochlets which nestle
near the base of Ben LaoghaL.

Of the West Sutherland rivers our choice is the Inver.
Wild and rugged, and headlong in its frantic efforts to
reach the sea at Loch Inver, throughout its lower reaches,
in its upper portions it is calm and smooth, and wide and
deep, expanding into little lochs and great ranges of salmon-
spawning beds. It is fringed with birch, spruce, and fir
— a lovely, wooded ravine— in its lower reaches ; but in
its upper, save at the spot where it leaves Loch Assynt,
is almost treeless. Thus it offers the finest combination
of scenery of any river in the county. Next in loveliness
is Kirkaig, if not indeed in its own forte outvieing the
Inver. Its magnificent waterfall, 68 feet in height, and
the dark romantic pool below, its rugged, narrow, and
tortuous course, and its uniformly-wooded sides, make it
almost if not quite the equal in beauty of its sister stream.
Then comes the Laxford, by its name suggestive of great and
goodly store of salmon ; and then the melancholy Strath
of Dionard, near Durness. Savagely wild is the Dionard
or Grudie in its upPer reaches and at shingly -shored
Loch Dionard ; melancholy, dreary, and weird, throughout
the last 10 miles of its course, before it falls into the
Kyle of Durness.

Of manv minor streams we could recount their beauties

APPENDIX. 313

and sing their praises, such as those of Trailigill and
Loanan, and the marvellous cold-stream burn or Ault-na-
oul, in the limestone of Assynt, or the wild tumbling burns
of Glens Dhu and Coul — two glens, perhaps without
their equal in scenic effect.

Sea-Lochs and Shore-lines, Headlands and Stacks.

Scarcely less in importance are the innumerable and
far-reaching sea-lochs, commencing in the south-west with
Loch Kirkaig and Loch Inver, the long arms of Glen Dhu
and Glen Coul, and including amongst their number,
between those and Cape Wrath, Scourie Bay, Lochs Lax-
ford and Inchard, and the sandy Loch Sandwood, all
united by a wild and rugged coast -line, save at little
isolated spots, where vegetation struggles hard to gain a
foothold in the crofts of the inhabitants, or at others
where bits of sandy soil intervene, forming smiling little
coves and nooks, sunny warm spots in the midst of the
gaunt precipices and rock-bound shores. The grandeur
of the coast culminates in the Island of Handa, of which
we will speak later, and in the grand cliffs and stacks and
headlands between Cape Wrath and Durness. Nor must
we forget to mention the peculiar stacks or isolated pillars
of rock of the " Old Man of Stoir," and that of the
Buachaille or Shepherd near the entrance to Loch Sand-
wood, besides others we will speak of at Handa, and on
the north coast, whilst treating of the islands off the coast.

Sea Islands.

Intimately associated with these deep sea indentations
and the rugged coast-line are the innumerable islands and
groups of islands which stud the whole western seaboard,
principal amongst which are the islands off Loch Inver,
the Badcall Islands off Cairnbawn Loch (which at its
head separates into the wild recesses of Lochs Dhu and
Coul), and Handa, the stupendous cliffs of which, reach-
ing 620 feet in altitude, give shelter to the countless sea-
fowl which throng its step-and-stair-like ledges "at the
height of the season," and which, also, for many years,

314 APPENDIX.

held the eyries of the white-tailed eagle and peregrine
falcon. To the northward are more islands off Loch
Inchard ; and Bulgie Island, famous for the booming
sound of the great Atlantic waves which dash wildly into
the half-submerged cavern on its north-west side, and
which is heard miles out at sea by sailors on board the
passing ships. Along the north coast are several islands,
of which, perhaps, the most remarkable is the Island of
Garbh, or the rough island, so named from the extremely
hard nature of its limestone rock, and the excrescences or
nodules of still harder lime fossils of crustaceae, which,
having resisted the action of air and water, jut out hard
and unyielding from the almost ecpially impervious
matrix. This island alone is well worth a visit, both by
the botanist and the collector of fossil crustacea. Near
Tongue, and off the entrance to the Kyle of Tongue, are
Ehon Island and Eabbit Island, the former frequented
by seals (Phoca vitulina), and the latter swarming with
rabbits, and visited daily by eagles and other birds of
prey which delight in rabbit flesh. Most of these islands
are frequented by various sea-fowl, eider ducks on the
north coast, in small numbers, and gulls and terns, puffins
and rock-birds ; but in this respect Handa near Scourie
stands pre-eminent, and is deserving of a few remarks
apart from the rest.

Handa can most easily be visited from Scourie Bay, or,
if the wind is too strong or unfavourable, by walking
three miles to Tarbert, and there hiring a boat across the
narrow sound which separates Handa from the mainland.
There are many good sailors at Scourie and Tarbert, but
the two who, perhaps, most fully fulfil the wants of a
stranger by combining seamanship, fisher-lore, and cliff-
climbing, are the two brothers Donald and Peter Mathieson.
Any one going to Handa should be amply provided with
sea-fishing gear, because, round its cliff-base and along
shore, some of the finest sea-fishing can be had. We have
assisted at the taking of 2 J cwts. of lythe and coal-fish
during a few hours, out from Scourie, at 5 p.m. and back
at 8 or 9 ; and, in a single tide, a little farther to the

APPENDIX. 315

south, we have helped in taking over 600 lbs. of cod
in1;o one boat. When visiting Handa do not omit a
judicious dram for the men, and if belonging to the army
of the blue ribbon, some other substitute for oneself, as
Handa is not famed for the quality of its water.

Handa is a mile, more or less, in diameter, and nearly
circular ; slopes gradually towards the east or shoreward
side, and where it is laved by the wavelets of the sheltered
sound is interrupted by upright veins of trap, which form
lovely little sandy coves for landing-places. A gradual
slope leads upwards and westwards to the cliff edges,
covered for a considerable space with short grass growing
on sand, and producing sweet sheep-grazing and mush-
rooms. The cliff face occupies fully three-fourths of the
circumference, low at the south and north-east; and,
rising boldly and rapidly towards the west, culminates in
a magnificent precipice of 620 feet in height. The sandy
coves and trap dikes occupy the other fourth part of its
coast-line. A flock of sheep is kept on the island, the
grazing of which belongs to Mr. MTver, the Duke of
Sutherland's factor at Scourie, and he used not infre-
quently to lose some of them, which, falling over the cliffs,
were dashed to pieces on the rocks below, or drowned
in the sea.

On the north side of Handa is a remarkable stack of
rock, inaccessible, with flatfish or sloping top, populated
by a colony of great black-backed gulls, razorbills, guille-
mots, etc. Opposite is a deep scar or gyo in the cliff face,
down which a man can easily descend, populated by a
large colony of puffins which nestle amidst the grass slopes
and loose masses of stones and debris. To the west of
this is a projecting peninsula of cliff, over which, in
certain winds, streams of rock -birds hurry up to their
nesting-places on the stack. Farther west the cliff rises
rapidly in altitude, till, facing west, it reaches 620 feet in
height. There the peregrine falcon breeds, and, till of
late years, the white-tailed or sea eagle reared her young.
This is one of the grandest cliffs in Britain ; though hardly,
perhaps, comparing in height with Foula in Shetland,

316 APPENDIX.

Mingalay in the Hebrides, or St. Kilda, it comes little
short of these in grandeur.

A little to the south of the culminating point of
Handa, where the cliff dips suddenly to about 450 feet of
elevation, there is a vast creux or pit, about 40 x 50 feet in
surface area, being nearly perfectly square, unfenced when
we last saw it, and penetrating perpendicularly the solid
rock down to the sea-level, where it is connected with a
deep inlet of the "Western Ocean by an equilateral-sided
tunnel. This curious place is haunted by kittiwakes,
especially in stormy weather, but, save in the tunnel-way
where a few shags have their nests, is not used as a breed-
ing station. We know of no creux to equal this in
magnitude or grandeur, not comparing with it for one
moment those of the Channel Islands, nor the Bullers of
Buchan on the Aberdeenshire coast. Almost throughout
the whole circumference of Handa — at least in its cliff
faces — the wonderful regularity of its parallel ledges is
remarkable ; and its innumerable crevices are crammed
with razorbills, guillemots, puffins, kittiwakes, and shags,
whilst a few cormorants occupy the highest ledges just
under the cliff-edge, and rock-doves are occasionally seen
to dash out of the caves over the sea ; rock -pipits and
starlings are abundant in the crannies and sea-pink tufts
of the cliffs. It is quite one of the most remarkable
bird-nurseries of Great Britain.

The Badcall Islands are well worth a visit. Colonies
of cormorants, sea-gulls, and black guillemots occupy the
suitable positions. We have taken twenty to thirty eggs
of the latter species during a short visit.

We have visited Handa and Badcall many times,
Bulgie Island, and Garbh Island, and other islands off
the coast, but none will compare in interest with Handa,
and all visitors to Sutherland should make a point of
including Handa in the programme of their tour.

Plantations and Cultivated Areas.

The cultivated areas are few and far between, and for
the most part insignificant. After leaving the vicinity of

APPENDIX. 317

Rosehall and the Kyle of Sutherland, a few crofters'
patches occur at the mouth of the Cassley river, hut
thereafter only a patch or two at Oykel and Aultnagealgach,
at Inchnadamph, and at each of the more inland situations
where the traveller can rest or tarry. Around the
villages of Knockan and Elphin, in the south-west of the
county, and along one shore of Cama loch, the crofters
have some more land under cultivation, and here the
common bunting breeds in small numbers, though rarer
elsewhere in Assynt. Along the shore -line of Ardvar
and Stoir, at Kirkaig Bay, and around Loch Inver,
patches of potato land, in the usual "lazy-bed" form of
cultivation, are numerous, dotted about amongst the
rocky ground often close to the sea-shore, or in larger
masses in the hollows more inland. A somewhat larger
extent of cultivated land lies towards the Point and
Lighthouse of Stoir. Around Scourie are some neatly
tended croft-lands, growing good hay and potatoes, and at
Durness and Tongue considerable extent of grass-lands
and crops. All these, limited though they are in extent,
have a decided influence upon the flora, and consequently
on the insect and bird life, and it is interesting to note
that for many years the few acres of cultivated land at
Inchnadamph produced regularly a covey of partridges,
until finally they disappeared after the severe winters of
1878-79 and 1880-1.

In the same way, trees are not abundant in the west of
the county. After leaving the extensive pine -woods of
Rosehall and the wooded valleys of the Shin and Cassley,
the traveller skirts the river Oykel for some distance,
passing through some old birch-wood on either side of
the road, where bog -myrtle grows in large quantities
beneath, or in the more open spaces. A few oaks occur
also along this route. But all wood ceases as one
leaves the valley of the Oykel beyond Oykel Bridge,
whose banks are skirted by a line of stunted alder.
Thereafter it is only in sheltered nooks of water-worn
ravines or in the crevices of rocks that perhaps a few
mountain-ash or straggling ivy find a foothold. The

318 APPENDIX.

lovely valley of the JEn&g river, however, retains a well-
wooded character for a considerable distance up the
glen. A dreary, often misty drive, over the great moor
which stretches over the watershed between Oykel Bridge
and Aultnagealgach, and then descends rapidly towards
Loch Assynt, brings us again to a few patches of wood
at Inchnadamph, which have been planted round the
farmhouse of Stronchrubie, the manse, and the hotel of
Inchnadamph ; whilst amongst the deep crevices of the
noble limestone cliffs of Stronchrubie, some fine natural
holly and thick -stemmed ivy give shelter to the ring-
ouzel, whose notes come clear and distinct on the traveller's
ear as he passes along the road below. Then come the
more thickly wooded slopes and knolls, and heights and
hollows of the birch -woods of Assynt, the lovely birch-
clad shores of Loch Letteressee, and Assynt shooting-lodge,
and the wooded valleys of Inver and Kirkaig, where spruce
and pine have been added to the natural wood and to
the beauties of glen and hillside.

Scattered amongst the sinuous hills of lower elevation
throughout the Stoir peninsula are a few very lovely bits
of scenery, influenced by perspectives of hill and hollow,
lake and birch -wood, and specially amongst those we
would take note of the Lochs of Beannoch — already
spoken of — and those of Drumbeg in the north of Stoir,
and the hollows and lakes close to the road, only a short
mile or two, to the north of Loch Inver. North of
Scourie scarcely a tree is to be seen, save on a few islands
of the lochs, but between Loch Inver and Scourie there
are many lovely lochs, covered with water-lilies, and their
shores and islets clad with birch and royal fern. Inland,
at Loch More shooting-lodge, there is a luxuriant shrub-
bery of rhododendron, and the steep side of Ben Stack is
clothed in birch to a considerable height. At Durness
scarcely a tree is to be seen, but at Tongue there are fine
plantations of larch and fir around Tongue House, and
here one of the finest old wych-elms in Scotland grows
on the lawn. The very temperate nature of the climate of
Tongue, snow rarely lying there for any length of time,

APPENDIX. 319

exercises its influence on plant and animal life alike. At
Altnaharrow, on the road between Lairg and Tongue, is
a small clump of spruce and larch, and it is wonderful
how the bird-life is at once observed to be associated with
this oasis, and the yellow hammer, chaffinch, and robin,
the wren and the hedge-sparrow reappear at this isolated
station. At Loch Hope Lodge, also, there is considerable
amenity of woodland, and before long the strips of
young wood lately planted on the improved land border-
ing Loch Shin will not only give shelter to the cropped
lands but also to innumerable birds and insects. At
Goberneasgach and in Glen Golly is a considerable slope
clad in birch-wood, in the very centre of a vast stretch of
barren deer-forest, also exerting its influence in a marked
degree upon the fauna.

The Faunal Position of Sutherland.

Scotland has been divided by Dr. Buchanan-White of
Perth into ten defined floral and faunal areas. These
are named, commencing in the south — Sol way, Tweed,
Clyde, Forth, Tay, Argyle, Dee, Moray, West Ross, and
Sutherland. We exclude here the Orkney and Shetland
Isles and the Outer Hebrides. These faunal areas are
separated by the natural watersheds, and are perhaps more
consistent in their peculiarities from a floral than from a
faunal point of view. It is not our intention at present
to insist upon the importance of these, or of the position
occupied by the area under our consideration from the
latter point of view, except in so far that we believe,
with the majority of naturalists, that natural divisions
cannot be quite so arbitrary as geographical or artificial
ones ; and we consider it desirable to indicate, as shortly
as possible, with which of these ten areas Sutherland
claims to have connection.

The great dividing range of mountains which forms
the backbone of the county stretches northward from
the southern boundary to the Reay Forest, and then turns
eastward by Ben Hee, including all the head waters of

320 APPENDIX.

the rivers which run westward, as far as Ben Stack and
Cape Wrath, and those of the rivers which run northward
between Cape Wrath and the eastern confines of the
county, and separating both of these from the head waters
of the rivers which run into the Moray Firth. We now
propose to follow this dividing line with somewhat more
minuteness of detail.

The watershed between the head waters of the Kirkaig
river and the Valley of the Oykel is situated between
Loch Ellag and the county march at Aultnagealgach ;
proceeding northward it runs along the sky-line of Braebag
and skirts the ridges and corries of Coinnebheal, being
very boldly defined, especially at the pass between Braebag
and Ben More, and again at the pass over the shoulder of
Ben Chaoran. Thence along the sky-line to Meall-a-chuail,
overlooking Loch Griam, and across the high road between
Lochs Merkland and More, it mounts the shoulder of
Ben Hee, turning abruptly from a hitherto northerly
course to one almost south-east. Up to this turning
point it had separated the water systems of Moray in the
east from West Boss, but if we follow it now in its east-
ward progress we find that it separates the water-systems
of Moray and Sutherland, or the rivers which run south
to the Moray Firth, from those which run north to the
Pentland Firth. Before following this line, however, we
will notice the spur which separates the water systems of
West Ross and Sutherland. From a point on the forest
road which leads close past Ben Hee towards Goberneasgach
shooting-lodge a sinuous sky-line passes among the great
hills of the Reay Forest, skirting the summit range of
Sabhal Bheag and Sabhal Mohr, and then keeping down
the left of the Dionard Valley crosses the high-road near
Guallin shooting-lodge, close to Lochan Tarbhach More,
and thence pursues an almost direct and straight line to
Cape Wrath, its elevation gradually lessening after passing
the summit ridge of Craig Riabhach (1590 feet), until at
Cape Wrath it passes out at the cliff edge at an elevation
of only 370 feet.

The south-easterly course of the watershed separating the

APPENDIX. 321

" Moray " and " Sutherland " faunal areas continues in a
somewhat irregular line towards the Crask Inn, on the high-
road between Lairg and Altnaharrow. Thence it follows
the sky-line or higher ridges of Ben Armine, turning
northwards between Lochs-na-Choir and Badenloch, near
the sources of the river Helmsdale. Then its course is
again easterly by Ben Rossal and Ben Vadda to the High-
land Railway at Forsinard and the Caithness March.

We have said that wTe do not intend at present to insist
upon the faunal importance of these three areas of
which the county of Sutherland claims a share ; but as
these watersheds do occur frequently at high elevations ;
and as climatic change, temperature and soil are in no
small degree co-existent ; and as geological considerations
cannot be overlooked, especially in the west and north-
west, as a glance at a geological map wall at once show ;
and as we know that faunal characteristics in many other
countries, as well as floral, are in a great measure dependent
upon these, and upon one another, we desire to indicate
the part which our subject county bears in its natural as
well as its artificial divisions and boundaries. Many
indications of the importance and influence of these natural
divisions are already within our grasp, but none, perhaps,
of sufficient importance to warrant our occupying more
space than we have done in this place.

Sutherland is, therefore, composed of portions of three
faunal areas : — 1st, West Ross, which includes Skye and
a part of Inverness, and which is marched on the south
by Argyle, and on the east by the backbone of mountains
which extends down the west side of Scotland ; 2d,
Sutherland, which, in its entirety includes Caithness, and
whose rivers run northward to the Atlantic Ocean ; and
3d, Moray, a vast faunal tract, whose basin is the Moray
Firth and whose catchment includes one-third part of our
subject county, and the larger portion of Inverness-shire
and Nairn, Elgin and Banff, which is bounded on the
south by the faunal areas of Argyle, Tay, and Dee, and on
the east by Dee.

VOL. II. Y

322 APPENDIX.

MAMMALIA.

Having thus endeavoured to describe the geographical posi-
tion and areas, and the physical aspects of the county, and
having also ascribed to it its faunal position in relation to
the other faunal areas of Scotland, we proceed to speak of the
vertebrate fauna, and, as is customary, besides being in accord-
ance with natural position, we commence this portion with
the Mammalia.

The oft-quoted passage in Sir Robert Gordon's Earldom of
Sutherland (1630), must, we fear, do duty again, as being
about the earliest — and also almost the latest — record of two pre-
existing species of Mammalia. Sir Robert Gordon's list con-
tains " Reid Deir and Roes, Woulffs, Foxes, Wyld Catts, Brocks,
Skuyrells, Whitretts, Weasels, Otters, Martrixes, Hares, and
Foumarts."

According to tradition, wolves were at one time so abundant
in Sutherland that the natives of the west coast buried all their
dead on the Island of Handa, to avoid the disinterment by
wolves ( Voyage round Scotland, p. 347). Mr. Scrope instances
accounts of four old wolves and several whelps which were all
killed about the same time, but in different places, between the
years 1690 and 1700. The localities named are Achumore, in
Assynt, Halladale, and Glen Loth, the latter being the locality
of the veritable " last wolf" of the county. " These," says Mr.
Scrope, "were the last wolves killed in Sutherlandshire, and
the den was between Craig Vhodich and Craig Voakie, by the
narrow glen of Loth." — {Days of Deer- Stalking, pp. 374-7.)

In 1621 we have record of the wolf in Sutherland. The follow-
ing is from a MS. Account-Book of Sir Robert Gordon, Factor
of Sutherland : —

Item. — Sex poundis threttein shillings four pennies given this yeeir
(1021) to Thomas Gordoun for the killing of one wolff, and that
according to the Acts of the countrey.

And we find an earlier record still, as follows : — The Rev. Dr.
J. M. Joass, to whom we are indebted for several curious items
of information, says— " I find in a facsimile copy of a map of
Great Britain from the Bodleian Library, and supposed to have
been made by Edward II. when Prince of Wales,1 that Suther-
land has the figure of a wolf on the top of a mountain, with the
legend — !Hic abundant lupi.'"

We have evidence of the occurrence, in prehistoric times,
of the reindeer (Cervus tarandus) and the beaver {Castor fiber),
remains of which have been found in different parts of Caith-
ness and Sutherland. A number of bones, some showing the
palmation by which the reindeer was identified, were found
i Circa a.d. 1280?— J. A. H.-B.

APPENDIX. 323

whilst Mr. Houstoun of Kintrachvell and others were engaged in
digging out the remains of the old tower there. Many of these
were broken in fragments, showing the appreciation which the
natives of the rude Stone Age had for the marrow.

Of other extinct animals we have traces of the wild boar
(Sus scrofa), in Gaelic traditions which still survive, and have
given names to various localities in the county, such as Ault-
natore— "The Burn of the Boar" — near Ben Loyal, where
Dermid was slain by the revenge of Fingal for seducing
the latter's wife (Songs of the Bards). According to Boyd
Dawkins, the wild boar was extinct in Britain "before the
reign of Charles I."— (Cave Hunting, p. 76.)

EXISTENT MAMMALS.

Common Bat — Vesperugo pipistrellus (Geoffroy).
Not so rare as formerly supposed, and indeed has probably increased
since the last account was written.— Alston, Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc.
Glasgow.

Mole — Talpa europoza L.

Still on the increase in Sutherland. In 1S43 it was rare in Durness, and,
according to Alston, only found on the western slope of Ben Hope.
Abundant in Assynt, less so in Edderachyllis, where the ground is
rockier and there are fewer low-lying pastures. In some parts their
existence for a number of years is evidenced by the old turf-covered
mole-hills. In the east regular mole-trappers are employed to keep
down these so-called pests.

Obs. The Hedgehog — Erinaceus europams L.
Is still unknown in the west, and, so far as known to us, in all other
parts of the county. Though pet specimens have been introduced,
and have escaped, there is no evidence that they have established
themselves in a wild state.

Common Shrew — Sorcx ■vulgaris L.
Common.

Water Shrew — Crossopus fodiens (Pallas).
Is not rare, but its retiring habits render its numbers difficult to ascer-
tain. Extends to Caithness. It frequents the limestone burns and
rivers of Assynt, and we have seen one obtained on the Inver river in
1883. In Mr. Alston's paper on "The Mammals of Sutherland," it is
stated that the dark variety, formerly separated as C. remifer, does
not appear to be found within the county, although common in many
parts of Scotland. The one we saw in 1883 belonged to the dark variety,
the dark colour passing entirely over the under side. Mr. Houstoun
writes from Kintradwell " I have twice seen the Water Shrew in life—
the first time both in the water and on land, and the second time on
dry land— and have, on three separate occasions, got dead specimens,
evidently dropped by a cat, but perfect and intact."

Badger — Meles taxus (Schreber).
Still found, but in decreasing numbers and in more restricted areas. Pre-
vious to 1807 no vermin were killed in the Eeay Forest, but after 1872

324 APPENDIX.

premiums were paid by Mr. M'lver, the factor. The Badger's name is
quite absent from lists of vermin killed in Assynt and Durness
between 1870 and 1S79, also from Reay Forest lists between 18(56 and
1880, and from the Assynt lists. One only is included in the Dunrobin
list between 1873 and 1880. We know of no part of Sutherland where
it can be called abundant, but the absence of its name in all cases
must not be held as invariably indicative of its absence in the flesh, as
in some parts, very wisely, no premiums are paid for Badgers. At one
time the " Brocair " or Badger-hunter, was a well-known man. Now he
is never heard of, and is replaced in person and in name by the Pox-
hunter. Supposed to be extinct, or nearly so, in the Tongue district,
none having been heard of during the last seventeen years, and only
two seen by Mr. Crawford during twenty-five years.

Otter — Lutra vulgaris (Erxleben).

Still not uncommon, though a persecuted species. In 1831 to 1834
premiums were paid for 263 killed on the Sutherland estates alone. In
Assynt and Durness only three are included between 1870 and 1879.
None between 1S66 and 1SS0 on Glen Dhu Farm or Reay Forest ; but
in Assynt, on Mr. Whitbread's shootings, twelve were killed by one
trapper between 1869 and 1880. We have no records of Otters amongst
vermin lists from Dunrobin ; but records of Otters killed do not per-
haps distinctly point out their distribution or comparative abundance
in different districts, for we know they yet frequent the Brora river
and Lothbeg burn ; near the latter place, indeed, one was caught by
rabbit-trappers on the Crakaig farm at the beginning of this year, and
we ourselves saw a fine one in Loch Brora on the 21st of February
last.

Polecat or Foumart — Mustcla putorius L.

The same causes which have decreased the numbers of the marten have
operated in the case of the Polecat. Rabbit-trapping has proved fatal
to it ; for whilst the increase of rabbits has provided it with abundance
of food, it has been the indirect means of causing its decrease (by the
agency of steel traps). Inland localities, formerly occupied by Pole-
cats, have been deserted by them, for they, drawing down towards
the sandy barrens to prey upon the rabbits, themselves became an
easy prey. Careful inquiries have elicited the fact that a few Polecats
still remain at certain sea-shore localities, but only now, where rabbits
do not abound and are not systematically trapped. An occasional one
is still obtained in the Tongue district, but the species is decidedly
rare there.

Stoat or Ermine — Mustela erminea L.

Very plentiful, and has even been seen on the summits of the highest
mountains. 1

Notwithstanding the war of extermination being constantly carried
on, it is steadily on the increase, and this is very probably co-existent
with the increase of rabbits. This, at least, was the case in 18S0.
Not abundant in the Tongue district.

Common Weasel — Mustela vulgaris L.

Not so abundant as the last, and not, so far as is known, ascending the
hills to any great altitude, preferring the proximity of houses, farm-
yards, etc.

Marten — Martes abietum (Fleming).

The Marten appears now to be of rarer occurrence throughout Scotland
than the wild-cat, being extinct in many places still frequented by the

i Mr. Omond records the appearance of a Stoat in the depth of winter
of 18S3-84 on the summit of Ben Nevis.

APPENDIX. 325

latter species, but, curiously enough, has survived over a larger area
up to a later date ; that is to say that while the boundaries of the
country at present inhabited by the wild-cat are easily defined, and
are gradually contracting, the occurrences of the Marten are more
sporadic, often turning up in localities far distant from one another,
where no records had previously occurred for many years. The
Marten being extremely unsuspicious of a baited trap, falls an easy
prey to the professional vermin-killer. In Assynt it is now very rare,
but in 1S76, in the Reay Forest, one keeper had fifteen skins awaiting
the annual arrival of the furrier's traveller. Two were got at Guallin
in 18S2, but they are very scarce there, though possibly less so than
elsewhere in the county. In the east of the county they have not been
known for many years, and are almost, if not quite, extinct in the
Tongue district.

Wild-Cat — Felis catus L.

Becoming extremely rare in Assynt during the last decade, but it is still
not uncommon in the Reay Forest, where it is preserved by the Duke
of Westminster. One very large one was killed in Assynt in 1881.
Between March 1831 and March 1834, as recorded by Selby, 901 Wild-
Cats, martens, and foumarts were destroyed. According to a list of
vermin killed on Dunrobin grounds, house cats and Wild -Cats are
distinguished, and six is the number of the latter killed between 1873
and 1880. One keeper in Assynt killed no less than twenty-six Wild-
Cats between 1809 and 1SS0, but of these only three during the last six
years. Another keeper killed ten between 1S70 and 1873, but no more
until the winter of 1879-80, when he killed four, one of which is de-
scribed as a monster. These notes very clearly indicate the process of
extermination, and we have many other lists which show the same
process of decline. In the east of the county, though not yet extinct,
itjis also very rare, though we hear of one being caught occasionally ;
and it is still found, though rarely, in the Tongue district.

Fox— Vulpcs vulgaris (Fleming).

Very plentiful, a pretty regular crop appearing every year, and affording no
mean addition — in the form of premiums — to the gamekeepers' salaries,
besides employing regular Fox-hunters. £1 is given for an old dog, £2 for
a vixen, and 10s. each for cubs. Between 1831 and 1834 premiums were
paid for 239 Foxes on the Sutherland estates. In Assynt and Durness
for 156 between 1870 and 1879. In the Reay Forest and Glen Dhu 145
between 1866 and 1880 by one return, and by another hand, in the Reay
Forest between 1873 and 1879, 164 ; or, in all, from Reay Forest and
Glen Dhu in that time, 309. In Assynt, on Mr. Whitbread's shooting,
by one keeper alone, no less than 53 between 1869 and 1880. Between
1866 and 1869, 340 were killed. On Dunrobin 60 Foxes were killed
between 1873 and 18S0. In Assynt also, on another beat, another man
got 11 Foxes between May 1879 and May 1880. Still very abundant in
the East, and at normal numbers around Tongue, neither increase nor
decrease being observable.

Common Seal — Phoca Vitulina L.

Not uncommon at some localities, especially in the firths of the north
coast, and occurring all along the coasts in the west. Another resort
on the east coast is a sandbank at the entrance of the Dornoch Firth,
visible from the town of Tain. Here they used to lie in large numbers,
though lately a good many have been killed with punt guns, one man
killing three and wounding two with one shot : these latter were
afterwards found. Another resort is the Little Ferry, where they
come in and out with the tide.

Gray Seal — Halichcerus gryphus (Fabricius).
Fairly common along the east coast, especially where there are any

326 APPENDIX.

rocks jutting into the sea suitable for them to lie on. One such place
is Lothbeg Point, where Mr. Houstoun of Kintradwell has shot many,
the small Firth Seal being the rarer here. They blockade the mouth of
the Brora, levying black mail on the migrating salmonida?.

They also occur in some numbers on Eilean-nan-Roan — off the Kyle
of Tongue — where specimens have been seen over 8 feet long. They
are most numerous on the outer island. At Souliskeir — to the north
of Cape Wrath — they were once abundant, and parties of fishermen
used to go from Orkney and from the north Sutherland coast to kill
them in October. These raids have ceased in the last fifteen or twenty
years, as we are informed by Mr. J. Crawford.

Harp Seal — Phoca grcelandica (Fabricius).
Mr. Houstoun tells us he has killed a specimen of this Seal at Kintrad-
well ; we saw portions of its skin after it had been preserved and cut
up. This was probably previous to 1870. Mr. Houstoun is an experi-
enced seal-shooter, but it is a pity that such a valuable and interesting
addition to the British Marine Mammalia should not have been more
carefully preserved. Personally, we feel certain that the Harp Seal
has occurred several times in Scotland, and have ourselves shot one
in the Hebrides, which was, however, lost to us, and we have evidence
of others having occurred. Unfortunately, however, none have been
preserved.
Cetaceae. — Our actual knowledge of the species which frequent or have
occasionally visited the Sutherland coasts is still very defective, owing
to the difficulties attendant on the pursuit of knowledge in this direc-
tion. We have little to add to the last published list of the Cetacean
Mammalia, by Mr. E. R. Alston.

The Porpoise — Plioccena communis (F. Cuvier).
Visits the coasts.

The Pilot Whale — Globicephalus aulas (Trail).

Also is found on the coasts, and there is one in the Dunrobin Museum.
One was stranded on the Melness side of the Kyle of Tongue about five
years ago. It measured 15 feet in length. This was about midsummer.

The White Whale or Beluga — Delphina.plerus leucas (Dall).
In 1880 a specimen of this species was repeatedly seen in the Kyle of
Tongue in August, as reported to us by Mr. J. Crawford of Tongue
House, and there are other records of its occurrence on the north coast
of Caithness (cf. Bell, British Quadrupeds, 2d ed., pp. 381-474). A
specimen was obtained at the Little Ferry on the 9th of June 1879,
having got entangled in the gearing of the salmon stake-nets (P. Z. S.,
1879, pp. 667-9). It is now stuffed and in the Dunrobin Museum, and
another has been captured on the Caithness coast since this Fauna
went to press (June 1884).

The Sperm Whale — Physeter macrocep/ialus L.

Though not to our knowledge actually captured or authentically recorded
on the coast of this county, has occurred on the Caithness coast (cf.
Bell, British Quadrupeds, op. cit., p. 418).

Squirrel — Sciurus vulgaris L.
Once present in Sutherland (cf. Sir R. Gordon's Earldom of Sutherland
to the year 1630, where it is included in a list of animals found in the
county), and became extinct. The latest record we have of the
Squirrel occurring anywhere in the north of Scotland which could
possibly have belonged to the aboriginal stock, dates 1792 (Old Stat.
Account of Scotland (1792), vol. iii. p. 514), which record is repeated word
for word in the New Stat. Account, dating 1842. It most probably
became extinct after or during the severe winter of 1795, and the
subsequent record was merely a statement not brought up to date.
As regards its reappearance we quote directly from Harvie-Brown's

APPENDIX. 327

essay on "The Squirrel in Scotland," as in that essay the subject, we
believe, is pretty well thrashed out.

"The Squirrel reappeared in the county of Sutherland in 1S59 at
Clashmore, on the authority of Mr. Tlios. Mackenzie (vide Proc. Nat.
Hist. Soc. Glasg., vol. iii. p. 229 ; also Scottish Naturalist, vol. i. p. 82),
and he believes that the first Squirrels entered the county across
Bonar Bridge. It was not, however, until after the railway bridge was
built at Invershin, in 1869, that Squirrels became plentiful in the east
of Sutherland." Since then they have increased largely, and are now
firmly established again in the east of the county. From Dunrobin
we have the following returns of Squirrels killed between 1873 and
1SS0, which admirably shows the rapidity with which the species
increases. In 1S73, 2 were killed ; in 1875, 75 ; in 1876, 47 ; in 1877, 12 ;
in 1S78, 284 ; in 1879, 332 ; in 1S80, 190 ; total in seven years, 942.

Wood Mouse — Mus sylvaticus L.
"We have only once observed this species in a birch-wood on the side of
Loch Shin, but Selby mentions it as common as long ago as 1834, and
it is common in the east of the county.

House Mouse — Mus musculus L.

Common.

Brown Rat — Mus dccumanus (Pallas).

Abundant, but for the most part confined to the coast districts, though
occasionally found at some inland localities ; abundant on many islands
off the coast, but quite absent from others. Handa is infested with
them, and there is evidence also of their presence on the Badcall
Islands. We found no trace of them on Bulgie Island, nor on Garbli
Island.

Black Rat — M. rattus L.

The only occurrence we are able to record is of a single specimen shot
two miles west of Golspie in 1879, about a mile from the nearest
houses, which would therefore be the seaport of the Ferry. Unfor-
tunately, it was too far gone for preservation for the Museum. We
have innumerable records of varying value of the Black Rat from
many parts of Scotland, the above being the only one from Sutherland.
As the black water-vole is very common, it can hardly have been con-
founded in this case, as the reporter is a particularly intelligent man.

Water Vole — Arvkola ampMbius L.

Abundant both on the rapid clear limestone rivers of Assynt and the
more sluggish streams. The black variety is, in our opinion, more
abundant than the brown in the west, and is at least equally common
in the east, where it haunts every burn, except those that are too
rocky. This interesting species appears to thrive well amongst the
rocky limestone formation, finding ready shelter in the innumerable
cracks and passages through the rock, but we have not met with it in
the very rocky burns of other formations. Mr. Ben. N. Peach ob-
served it commonly in Durness— the black variety, which is also found
in Caithness. They are common also in Strath Shinary, through which
the river Shinary flows into Loch Sandwood. The common Vole is
easily tamed, and makes a cleanly and interesting pet.

Common Field Vole — Arvicola agrestis L.
Common. We have seen it often in the limestone district, and occa-
sionally in the caverns of the limestone rock, where we once came
across a large store of food, which must have lasted past the winter
months. The owner scuttled out from its midst near the back of the
largest cave, narrowly escaping capture. Also common in the east of

328 APPENDIX.

the county. 06s. The Red Field Vole— A. glareolus has not been to
our knowledge discovered in the county.

Mountain Hare — Lepus variabilis (Pallas).

The White Hare has been gradually decreasing in numbers for some years
back. There are no hills in Assynt at all famous for the numbers of
these creatures, but there is no doubt that they were much more
plentiful only some sixteen or twenty years ago, and within our own
recollection, than they are now. Persistent shooting has in some
cases had to answer for this scarcity. At one time the two Bens
Griam were plentifully supplied with hares, but some thousands hav-
ing been killed oft" these hills alone some years back, the stock never
recovered, and even now, when there is no systematic persecution,
they are so rare that not more than two or three can be seen in a
day's walk. Since the larger shootings were broken up in 1873, each
lessee has, in most cases, allowed his keeper to kill hares in the winter,
and as hares generally come down from the higher grounds at that
time, far more were killed than belonged by rights to the ground ; and
as this has now been going on for more than two years, and during
that time we have had two very severe seasons, it is no wonder that
White Hares are getting scarce.

Common Hare — Lepus timidus L.

The Brown Hare, as it is called in the Highlands, is pretty plentiful in
the east of the county, frequenting indifferently the cultivated land
and the heather that borders it. When living in the latter place, it is
supposed to cross with L. variabilis, and certainly we have seen hares
that had every appearance of being such hybrids.

Said to have been common in the lower lands and the limestone
ranges of Assynt in Selby's time. It is now extremely rare, if not
extinct there. We have only seen two examples during seventeen years'
knowledge of Assynt, and these both on the same day.

Rabbit — Lepus cuniculus L.

Common in the east. Scarce in the west, or at least very local. Com-
mon on Handa, where they were introduced about eighteen to twenty
years ago. Fairly common about the north shore of Loch Inver ;
abounding on Rabbit Island (or Eilean-nan-Ghael, the Island of
Strangers), at the entrance of the Kyle of Tongue, but temporarily
decreased there since the severe winters of late years. Old "Robby
Ross," an old residenter at Tongue, told Mr. Crawford that Rabbits
were introduced to Eilean-nan-Ghael by Major M'Kay, brother to Lord
Reay, about seventy years ago. We find this island, however, called
"Rabbit Island" as early as 1792 in the Old Stat. Acct. of the County,
vol. iii. p. 521. 700 were killed in the Tongue woods in 1S80-1881. A
single Rabbit was known to frequent stony broken ground at Far-out
Head, near Durness, in 1881-1S82. How did it come there? Over
12,500 are stated to have been killed in the county of Sutherland in
the year 1S80, but this return does not probably apply really to the
whole county. Rabbits wander far up the straths on the east coast,
and at one time there was a large colony near Loch Aricline, at the
head of the Helmsdale Strath, which were nearly all killed by one
severe winter.

Red-Deer — Cervus elcphus L.

It is stated that 2S4 stags and 32 hinds were killed in 1S80 in the county.
How far these figures are correct I am unable to say.

The principal forests are Dirrie-Chatt or Dunrobin in the east, and
Dirrie-More or Reay Forest in the west, besides, of later years, other
afforested ground in Assynt. There is evidence that formerly very
large heads occurred in Sutherland (Lays of the Deer Forest, vol. ii. p.
145), and the Dunrobin Museum contains a very fine head, with both

APPENDIX. 329

horns deeply cupped, and of great spread and thickness of beam. The
Duke of Westminster at the present time is striving to improve the
heads in the Reay Forest, and with singular and rare sportsmanship
forbids the killing of the finer adult stags. A decided difference has
already made itself manifest in the improvement of both body and
antlers. No doubt these grand heads were commoner in the days when
Sutherland was covered with oak and pine timber, remains of which
are still visible in the peat mosses. But when it is believed that there
is not at present a tree in Sutherland which numbers 100 years in age,
we must go a long way back to localise them in time.

What the Duke of Westminster is doing to improve the stags in the
west, the Duke of Sutherland is doing in the east, and, except one or
two killed by himself or Lord Stafford, no good heads are allowed to
be shot in Dunrobin, under a fine of £1 to the stalker who allows such
to be done. At the present time Deer are spread throughout the whole
county, from the north-east corner of the parish of Reay to the woods
of Dornoch. It is worthy of reference here, what has been related of
the great emigration of Deer out of the Reay country after the first
"head" of sheep had been there introduced (v. Lays of the Deer Forest,
vol. ii. p. 146).

Koe-deer — Caprcolus caprea (Gray).
Common in all suitable localities, and increasing in number since plant-
ing became more general. The late severe winters put a check, how-
ever, on the increase, but they seem again to have in great measure
recovered. Even in the isolated birch-woods of the interior of the
county Roe are found, but they rarely increase, even when not killed,
in such situations.

Fallow-deer — Ccrvus dama L.
Sheriff Mackenzie informs us that this species has, "for many years back,
frequented the woods about Dornoch in a semi-wild state." Fallow-
deer were introduced at Rosehall in the winter of 1S76 or spring of
1877. Buckley was there at the time, and saw them turned out at
midnight.

REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS.

Common Lizard — Zootica vivipara (Jacquin).

"Not uncommon, especially on the moors between Aultnagealgach and
Loch Urigill" (Alston and Harvie-Brown). Common almost everywhere
in the east of the county.

Slow "Worm — Anguis fragilis L.

Not uncommon in the west of the county, especially about Scourie and
Edderachyllis. Often seen on the dry dusty roads in summer. Occurs
frequently in Strath Brora.

Adder or Viper — Pelias vents (Linn.)

Abundant in most suitable localities ; and more abundant, perhaps, than
suspected, owing to its somewhat retiring habits. Common north to
Cape Wrath, but rare in the limestone districts of Durness and Assynt.
We certainly, in seventeen years' experience of Assynt, do not remem-
ber seeing more than two or three on the banks of the Inver and
Kirkaig. Said to be abundant on Coul More and Coul Beg, and very
abundant in a certain birch -wood on the banks of Loch Shin. Ex-
tremely abundant all through the east and centre of the county.

330 APPENDIX.

Frog — Eana tcmporaria (Linn.)
Very common, ascending to considerable elevations, and fond of clear
stony streams coming off the granite or mica. Apparently rarer in the
limestone districts.

Toad — Bufo vulgaris (Laurent).
Also common, and ascends clear mountain tarns to a considerable alti-
tude. The same remark as regards comparative rarity in the lime-
stone districts applies as to the last species.

Rough Newt — Triton cristatus (Laurent).

Not uncommon. Wolley recorded it, and Messrs. Alston and Harvie-
Brown have met with it on several occasions near Loch Assynt, and
the latter gentleman once close to Loch Inver.

Smooth Newt — Triton taimatus (Schneider).
Not uncommon.

Palmated Newt — Triton palmipes (Latreille).

The only record of this species as yet obtained, is that by Mr. Wolley,
who wrote in the Zoologist (184S, p. 2265) — " I have to report the ex-
istence of our recently ascertained Newt on the extreme north of the
Island. On the 1st August I found several females and one male in a
little freshwater peaty pool, a few hundred yards from the high-water
mark, on the side of the hills which rise from Loch Emboli, and on
the west side of the loch. It is an inlet of the sea, about sixteen
miles to the east of Cape Wrath, on the north coast of Sutherland."
Mr. Alston wrote commenting on this — "We are not aware of the
species having been found in any other part of the North Highlands."
—(Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow, 1SS0, p. 149.)

AVES.

Family FALCONIDiE.

The Golden Eagle — Aquila Chrysaetos (Linn.)

Resident : still abundant : generally distributed wherever suitable rest
and quiet is afforded. Not now so much killed down as formerly,
when, about 1834, in three years' time, no less than 171 full-grown
eagles, besides 53 young birds and eggs were destroyed (Selby). In
1S77 Mr. Crawford, Tongue, considered there had been a decrease of
Eagles owing to extravagant prices offered by collectors. It is not our
intention here to make public all the eyries of the county, though we
believe almost every site is known to us. Most abundant in the west
and north, rarer in the east and south ; we are, however, glad to be
able to add that one eyrie, for iyears deserted, and situated in the
south-east, has again been tenanted for the last two or three years,
and most of the other eyries are still used.

In one glen six of these birds have been seen at one time ; some of
these would probably be young birds reared by a pair of birds that
breed regularly there.

White-tailed Eagle — Haliaetus albicilla (Linn. )

Resident : not so abundant as the Golden Eagle in this county : their
eyries principally confined to the coast-line. Eyries can be counted
on one's fingers. A position said to be perfectly inaccessible is at a
point a little east of Whiten Head, on the north coast. Another, nearer
Cape Wrath, is not inaccessible, though only reached by one man

APPENDIX. 331

known to us. Some years ago one of the birds of this nest was
destroyed by a well-known writer on Highland sports ; since then the
remaining bird has not taken to itself another partner. In the east
there is no eyrie known to us in Sutherland, though one existed many
years ago on the Caithness side of the Ord. An albino variety of this
bird was killed at Aehinduich, in the parish of Lairg, in November
1S59. The last specimen we handled from this locality was killed in
spring, about the year 1872, at Kintradwell ; another, killed in the
spring of this year at Durness, came into Inverness for preservation.

Osprey — Pandion haliactics (Linn.)
It is to be feared quite extinct as a breeding species. Old sites are
Ardvrack Castle, on Loch Assynt, and a " stack " of rock in a loch near
Guallin shooting -lodge. It was reported to have returned to this
latter site in 1SS1, but this was not corroborated ; the remains of this
old nest near Guallin were still visible in 1881. The Osprey was never
recorded as breeding anywhere in the east of the county, no doubt on
account of the lack of suitable sites. In 1834 Sir W. Jardine's party
saw four Ospreys on the wing at the same time, hovering over the
mouth of the Laxford river ; such a sight can never be witnessed there
now. In the third week of June 1S79, an Osprey haunted Loch Brora
for a week, and in May 1881, and again, in the same month of 18S3, we
saw an Osprey flying up the higher reaches of the Helmsdale.

Iceland Falcon — Falco islandus (Gmel. )
A rare visitant ; but has occurred on two occasions at least, once at
Sciberscross in 1868. This bird is preserved in the Dunrobin
Museum ; it appears, from a single feather examined, to have been a
bird in its second year's plumage, at all events an immature bird, of
about that age. The other was taken at Altnaharra, in the centre
of the county. There is a third in the collection of the late Mr.
Dunbar of Brawl.

Peregrine Falcon — Falco pcregrinus (Gmel.) ■

Resident ; and still holds its ground, despite the incessant persecution it
receives from?keepers. This is the "Falcon" of the Highland keeper,
who rarely calls it by any other name ; being extremely difficult to
trap, the birds are generally shot during the nesting season. Some
eyries have been deserted in our recollection, while others again have
been formed ; the absence of suitable nesting-places make them rarer
in the east than the west. In the deer-forests of Dunrobin and Ben
Armine Feregrines are rather preserved than otherwise.

Still fairly abundant in the west, and we know of about eight eyries
on the north and west coasts between Whiten Head and Loch Inver, and
about eight inland eyries in Assynt within a radius of ten miles. Not
much decreased of late years, though many are killed.

Our experience in regard to this and other species of birds is, that
whenever the old ones are killed the old nesting-place is occupied the
next season by others, very probably young birds which have escaped
destruction in former years ; but the re-occupation of favourite breed-
ing haunts by many species, after temporary desertion, may possibly
be explained under certain phenomena of migration, and certain fixed
lines by which species travel.

Hobby — Hypotriorchis subbutco (Linn. )
Very rare visitant. One example was shot by a brother of Mr. Macleay
of Inverness, at Achany, many years ago, and sent to the late Mr.
Dunbar of Brawl Castle.

Merlin — Falco ccsalon Gmel. )

Resident : partially migrant to coast-line ; common, but not so abundant
as formerly; still, certain haunts known in 1870 were occupied in

332 APPENDIX.

1882 in Assynt. Considerably shot down in game-preserving interests.
Barer in the wooded districts of the south-east ; common in the more
central ones.

This species appears to have been less common in Mr. "Wolley's time,
as he "was not sure that he ever saw this bird in Sutherland ;" this
was in 1852 (cf. Ootheca Wolleyana, pt. I., p. 105).

Kestrel — Falco tinnunculus (Linn.)
Breeding visitant ; rarely resident ; very common in the east throughout
the breeding season, laying its eggs in any convenient hole in the rocky
burn-sides so numerous in the Highlands. The birds generally leave
the higher ground about September, and migrate to the coast, where
they remain a short time before going farther south. The earliest
date on which we have seen this bird is February 17, 1884 ; but this
may have remained through the winter, which was extremely mild.

Besident at Tongue, but scarcer in winter than in summer ; indeed,
probably the exceptions are residents.

Sparrow-hawk — Accipiter nisus (Linn.)

Besident : a partially migratory species, numbers of young birds appear-
ing about the cultivated grounds in the autumn. This bird is increas-
ing very much in the south-east, probably on account of the number
of plantations of Scotch fir which are springing up, as in 1870 we only
knew of one nest in the immediate vicinity of Brora, and now (1884)
the keeper there was complaining to us of their numbers. Holding
its own, in spite of persecutions at Tongue, though other hawks are
becoming scarce. Not known as yet in the west. We have never seen
the nest of this species in birch-woods in Sutherland, but Mr. Booth
mentions the fact of their breeding in such places, as, for instance, in
an old hooded crow's nest on a birch-tree at Loch Craggie.

Kite — Milvus ictinus (Savigny).

At one time a common bird, the Kite is now extinct, nor does a
Sutherland specimen exist in the Dunrobin Museum, though there is
one in the collection of the late Mr. Dunbar of Brawl. Mr. Macleay,
the well-known birdstuffer in Inverness, writes to us : — "When I was
a boy the Kite was a very common bird in Sutherland, and I once got
its nest. It was no uncommon thing to see half a dozen together,
circling about in the air at Eosehall." Since then the cutting down
of all the large trees and continued trapping have done their work,
and the Kite exists there no longer. Some fifty years ago the Kite
used to be seen in the Helmsdale Strath, but our informant could not
say whether it nested there. It had become rare by St. John's time
— a.d. 1S49.

Common Buzzard — Buteo vulgaris (Leach).
By no means a common species in the east, though a season rarely
"passes without a few being seen. The only nest that came under our
observation in this district was taken from a rock below which the
Blackwater, the principal feeder of the Brora river, runs, in May 1874 ;
although, we understand, neither bird was killed, the site does not ap-
pear to have been occupied again. There used to be a breeding-place
near Loch Naver, but the birds were always trapped or shot before they
brought out their young ; this was previous to 1869. Much scarcer in
the west by 1877 than previously, many old sites being deserted or
tenantless. One season we took no less than eight sets of eggs within
a radius of 10 miles. In 1877 the only nest in the district was 10 miles
off. But in 187S a previously occupied site was again used, and young
brought out. Beported to us as exceedingly rare in Assynt in 1884.

Rough-legged Buzzard — Archibuteo lagopus (Gmel.)
Very rare autumn visitant. We have seen a specimen from Helmsdale

APPENDIX. 333

in Mr. Macleay's shop in Inverness, where it had been sent for pre-
servation. Specimens have also been obtained from Berriedale in
Caithness, close to Sutherland. Another Sutherland specimen passed
through Mr. Macleay's hands ; it was killed many years ago at Achany.

Honey-Buzzard — Pemis apivorus (Linn.)

A rare autumn visitant ; several have, however, been procured, two of
which are now in our possession. The first, a female, was killed in
the large Uppat woods, near Dunrobin, in July 1S79, and in September
of the same year a young one, with the down still adhering to the tips
of its feathers, was killed at Balnacoil, not far from the same place.
Other specimens are in the Dunrobin Museum, one of which was shot
at Kildonan up the Helmsdale Strath.

Hen-Harrier — Circus cyaneics (Linn.)

Resident, and still fairly common in the east, though killed down on
every occasion that offers. Like others of the Raptores the Hen-
Harrier resorts to the same place for nidification year after year, thus
leading to its destruction. A pair of birds were shot at the nest in
the Dunrobin Forest on May 14, 1SS1, the male of which had not then
attained the adult plumage. Previous to 1877 common in the west,
since then has almost disappeared. Three breeding sites previously
known to us have been untenanted for several years. In 1S78 not one
was seen ; and still very rare in 1S79.

Family STRIGIDiE.

Tawny Owl — Syrnium aluco (Gmel. )

Resident, but not very common ; of most frequent occurrence in the
wooded districts of the south-east. Breeds near Balnacoil, Dunrobin,
and Rosehall, in which latter place it was unknown forty years ago,
when Mr. Macleay of Inverness was a boy there. Mr. Crawford in-
cludes it as breeding at Tongue in the north.

Long-eared Owl — -Otus vulgaris (Flem. )

Rare, but breeds in the Dunrobin district ; will probably extend its
range with the increasing number of plantations. Used to be very
common at Rosehall before the large woods were cut down. Also
occurs in the woods around Loch Migdale, near Bonar. It is reported
as breeding also at Tongue ; indeed Mr. Thomas Mackenzie received the
young from there.

Short-eared Owl — Otus brachyotus L.

A decidedly rare species, but is recorded by Sheriff Mackenzie as having
bred near Dornoch in 1873. On only one occasion have we seen this
species in the east of the county. In the west we have only once ob-
tained an egg from the Cromarty side of the march. Mr. A. G. More
includes it as breeding regularly in the county. They were said to
have bred on an island of Loch Awe, in Assynt, in 1876. We ourselves
saw a bird which we felt sure was this species, pass our camping
ground by the side of a loch in Stoir, on the night of 13-14th June 1877.

Snowy Owl — Nyctea nivea (L. )

A very rare visitant. An example, killed at Achintoul in the parish of
Kildonan, passed through Mr. Macleay's hands, and another was in
the collection of the late Mr. Dunbar of Brawl.

Barn Owl — Strix flammea L.

Very rare in the east ; one was shot at Kildonan on the 12th of September
1883, and there are other specimens in the Dunrobin Museum. Rare

334 APPENDIX.

in the west of the county, but has been known to breed at a certain
locality on the south shore of Loch Assynt. We have seen it in autumn
(August) when cover-shooting ; or, at other times, in the birch-woods
at Loch Letteressee ; at the west end of Loch Assynt, or nearer Loch
Inver. It is known to some natives, but not to all. Breeds occasionally
at Tongue (J. Crawford) ; and rarely, or occasionally, about Rosehall.

Tengmalm's Owl — Nyctale tengmalmi (Gin. ).

St. John records a specimen of this owl killed at Spinningdale in May
1847, by Mr. Dunbar.

PASSERES.

Family LANIID.E.

Great Gray Shrike — Lanius excubitor (Linn. )

Irregular autumn visitant ; more common perhaps than is supposed.
Observed as long ago as 1S45, a specimen in the Museum being dated
that year. We have ourselves observed one or two specimens on the
south-east coast, and there is in our collection at Dunipace a male
bird shot near Tongue, and sent to us in the flesh by Mr. Crawford, on
7th December 1875.

Family MUSCICAPID^.

Pied Flycatcher — Muscicapa atricapilla (Linn. )

An irregular spring visitant. The first known to have occurred in the
county was obtained by ourselves in a very wild burn, some eight or nine
miles from Brora, on the 27th of May 1872. After that none were ob-
served again until the year 1SS1, when a pair came into Mr. Houstoun's
back garden at Kintradwell, and took up their quarters there for some
days, feeding about the window that looks into the garden ; they
eventually disappeared, though never disturbed, as Mr. Houstoun had
good hopes of their breeding there. About the same time — May 2 — two
of these birds were picked up dead at the Meikle Ferry, near Tain, in
Rosshire, and on the 4th another was found dead, and brought, along
with the preceding two, to Sheriff Mackenzie. The latter is in our
collection at Dunipace.

Spotted Flycatcher — Muscicapa grisola (Linn.)

Summer visitant ; commonest in the south-east ; more rare in the north
and centre, but has been found nesting all the way in suitable places
between Dornoch and Tongue by Sheriff Mackenzie. In 1878 we met
with it for the first time at Inchnadamph, where a pair took up their
quarters. We also, in the same year, saw one bird on the Loch Inver
Road, near Assynt shooting -lodge. It does not seem to progress
where birch only grows, at least such has been our experience hitherto.

Family CINCLID^;.

Dipper — Cinches aquaticus (Bechst. )

Common, and resident in all the rivers and burns of the east. When
driven out of these by ice, the birds hang about the mouths at the sea-
coast, where the water does not freeze. At one time a reward was
given for their heads, on the ground that they ate the salmon spawn,

APPENDIX. 335

but this having been happily disproved, these cheerful birds are left
to breed in security and peace ; and, partly by our own exertions, the
premium has been withdrawn. Fluctuations in numbers occurred in
the west of the county owing to these persecutions, but since the
premium was withdrawn they have again increased. In one return of
"vermin" killed, which we have received, the following were the
numbers of water- ouzels killed :— In 1874, 64; in 1875, 86; in 1876,
33 ; in 1877, 41 ; in 1878, 75 ; in 1879, Jan. to June, 54 : old and young.
Happily nous avons change tout cela, and if the premiums were placed
on the hooded crows and bag-nets it would be more practical.

Family TURDIDiE.

Missel-Thrush — Tardus viscivorus (Linn.)
Common, and resident in the south-east, and has much increased in the
last twenty years ; much reduced, however, by the two severe winters
of 1878-79 and 1SS0-81; now again regaining its numbers. Said to
have bred at Loch Naver by Selby in 1S34.

In the west and north rare, up to 1865, but at that time breeding and
increasing as far north as Caithness. Increasing after date of 1865 ;
now breeding commonly about Rosehall, and reaching as far as Tongue.
Said to have bred at Cape Wrath, but this is doubtful. In 1877 we
saw a bird at Rosehall, the first we had seen in the district, and in
1S78 the remains of an old nest near Loch Inver. Seen commonly
since that time, especially about Rosehall, but still not seen in the west.
Reported as "quite disappeared" at Tongue in 1SS1, though before
that date "abundant," the severe winters having rapidly influenced
them. Can now be only looked upon as occasional at Tongue.

Song-Thrush — Turdus musicus (Linn.)
Resident and common, though one of the species that suffered most in
the two before -mentioned severe winters; very common about the
older whin bushes that border the south-east coast-line. Common in
the west at Scourie, and especially at Badcall and Loch Inver ; common
at Tongue until the winter of 1878-79. Reported by Mr. Selby, on
information received, to remain all winter at Tongue, on the shore and
other low situations, and to resort, as we have been assured, to the
higher tops of the mountains, even in mid -winter, to feed on the
numerous berries. First observed at Inchnadamph in 1877. In 1881
reported to have been utterly exterminated at Tongue, as indeed was
the case throughout a large part of Scotland, the west coast and the
Hebrides, however, still holding the usual numbers, owing to the
influence of the Gulf Stream upon the climate.

Redwing— Turd us iliacus (Linn.)

Perhaps best described as a common autumn visitant to the east, more
rarely remaining the winter through ; the flocks that arrive are not
nearly so large as those of the fieldfare. On one occasion we were
witnesses of a migration of this and the next species at Glenrossal in
the autumn of 1875, large numbers of each arriving all one afternoon,
settling for a short time in the trees that fringe the river Cassley, and
then passing on ; next day few or none were to be seen.

Fieldfare — Turdus pilaris (Linn. )
Like the last, more common in autumn than in winter in the south-east,
especially of late years, the birds seeming to dread remaining so far
north after suffering so terribly from the two late severe winters. We
have at times seen very large flocks of Fieldfares after their arrival
sitting on the hillsides, but these soon after either broke up or went

336 APPENDIX.

farther south, single birds at times remaining behind until severe
weather drove them nearer the coast.

Blackbird — Turdus merula (Linn.)

Resident ; partially migratory, many more appearing during autumn and
early spring than during the breeding season. We know of one Black-
bird— a cock — whose wing, though now quite strong, has been at some
time injured at the pinion, and this bird has haunted one particular
spot for about five years. Common about Loch Inver, and in sheltered
and wooded western situations, but almost unknown in the interior,
and not distinguished by name by the natives from the ring-ouzel.
Common at Tongue.

King-Ouzel — Turdus torquatus (Linn.)

Summer visitant, and spread through the whole of the milder districts
of the east, where there is a mixture of rocky hillsides or burns,
amongst which this species delights to nestle. Early in April it gives
notice of its arrival by its pleasant whistle (it can scarcely be called a
song) being heard in all its accustomed haunts ; in late summer it
will occasionally enter the gardens with the blackbirds after fruit.
Abundant in the west, especially amongst the limestone rocks of
Assynt, and along the burns which rush headlong from Ben More. We
have taken three " clutches " of eggs in one short afternoon.

Family SYLVIIDiE.

Hedge-Sparrow — Accentor modularis (Linn.)

Resident ; common ; extending its range wherever plantations are spring-
ing up ; it has now got up to Badenloch, in the centre of the county,
where there are a few trees planted round the shooting-lodge. Occurs
also far from wood, as for instance at the back of Ben More Assynt,
by the heather-clad shores of the Gorm lochs, where a pair seen by
us evidently had young. Common at Tongue.

Redbreast — Erythacus rubccula (Linn. )

Resident, and common in the east, though nowhere, strictly speaking, an
abundant species. One day in December 1S82 we observed a number
of Robins in the Dunrobin grounds ; there were at least ten in as many
square yards. Has increased around Loch Inver in the west, since the
plantations have got up, and is not uncommon there. Common at
Tongue.

Redstart — Ruticilla jrfimnicurus (Linn. )
A summer visitant to the east, and extending its range, as it is now
found a considerable distance up several of the straths in the district,
where there is sufficient wood for shelter and food. In 1870 it was
not such a common bird as it is now in the Dunrobin district. In the
north of the county it is reported as rarer in 1877 than formerly, "and
none for the last five years," by Mr. J. Crawford, but we have found
it increasing of late years in the west of the county, and spreading
down the valleys towards the sea. Observed at Altnaharrow in 1881 ;
as early as 1878 near Loch Inver, and bred and reared young at Inch-
nadamph for the first time in 1880. (MS. of E. R. A.) Proceeding
westward, up to 1875 we only remember seeing it on two occasions
in the county — once at Loch Awe in the west and once at Rosehall,
but as early as 1834 Selby saw it at the latter locality and once at
Oykel Bridge. In 1864 an unusual migration of this species occurred
upon the Caithness coast on or about the dates of 8th, 9th, 10th
October, with a furious south-east gale, as recorded by Mr. Osborne.
(Field, Jan. 9, 1864.)]

APPENDIX. 337

Stone-Chat — Pratincola rtibicola (Linn. )

Besident ; pairs are seen scattered throughout the country to the east
in every month in the year, though they retire nearer the coast-line as
winter approaches ; they are unsociable birds, more than two being
rarely seen together. In the west more abundant than the next species,
but locally distributed. Observed at Altnaharrow in June 1881.
Common, and breeding at Tongue. (Auct. J. C.)

Whin-Chat — Pratincola rubetra (Linn.)

A summer visitant ; very common in some localities in the east, and
going quite into the centre of the county to breed. Local in distri-
bution in the west ; plentiful between Lairg and Scourie (E. Rawson
in lit.), and seen by us commonly here and there between Rhiconich
and Durness. Reported common at Tongue.

Wheatear— Saxicola cenanthe (Linn.)
Summer visitant, and extremely abundant in the east. Before his de-
parture for the winter the male changes his plumage into the more
sombre hues of the female. Even in very exposed situations far up
in the county, these birds constantly remain as late as October. In
Assynt extremely abundant, also especially in the limestone districts,
but not so abundant in 1877 as previous to that date. Common also
at Durness. We have found them in pairs on the summit of Ben
Chaoran (2500 feet above the sea). Least abundant in the broken
ground of the Stoir peninsula and interior parts of Edderachyllis.

Sedge-Warbler — Acrocejphalus streperus (Vieill.)

A summer visitant ; not rare, but very locally distributed both in the
east and west of the county. It has been traced to the very north of
Sutherland by Mr. Selby in the year 1834.

Whitethroat — Sylvia rufa (Bodd. )'
Summer visitant ; occurring in limited numbers through the whole of
the east and south-east districts. Selby considered it rare in 1834,
when it was observed once at Tongue and once at Bonar. In 1865
described by Mr. A. G. More as nesting " only occasionally in Ross,
Sutherland, and Caithness " (Ibis, 1865, p. 25). But since then found
to breed regularly near Tain, and seen by ourselves near Dornoch.
Undoubtedly extending its northward distribution in Scotland. Re-
ported common at Tongue.

Blackcap Warbler — Sylvia atricapilla (Linn. )

Very rare and casual visitant. A specimen obtained by Sheriff Mac-
kenzie at Dornoch, on November 1, 1871, is in the Dunrobin Museum.
The occurrence of this species during the period of autumn migration
upon the coast of Caithness, on several occasions, has been taken
notice of in the Field by the late Mr. Osborne, when it was observed
to feed greedily upon berries of the mountain-ash or rowan-tree.

Wood- Wren — Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein).

Summer visitant; fairly common in the south-east district. This
warbler was first observed by us in the summer of 1875 at Glenrossal,
near Rosehall. The following year one was reported as having been
heard at Kildonan in May 1876. (Auct. Lord Clifton, Zoologist, 1876, p.
5122). In 1877 we heard many in the Dunrobin grounds, and observed
one at Kintradwell also, but this seemingly sudden increase is more
likely due to the want of competent observers than to the absence of
the birds themselves. Not known farther west than Lairg and Altna-
harra. Of this we feel pretty certain up to date of going to press, but
we will be surprised if it be not finally a summer visitant to the suitable

VOL. II. Z

338 APPENDIX.

woods at Loch Inver. Indeed, we think we once saw it there, but only
once in 1881.

Willow Wvea—Phylloscopus trochilus (Linn.)

A summer visitant ; extremely abundant wherever there is a little
birch- wood. A single bush sometimes shelters a pair of Willow Wrens,
but a bit of green, however tiny, seems necessary to their existence.
A nest taken near Balnacoil, was placed in that of a robin from which
the young had previously flown.; it was lined with feathers and arched
over.

Gold-crest — Regulus cristatus (Koch.)
Resident in the south-east, where it breeds in the fir- woods so suitable
to it ; large additions to its number arrive in the autumn, and these
are scattered all through the district, as they do not then adhere
so closely to the large woods, but haunt the smaller patches of birch
and alder. A wonderful migration of this species occurred in the
autumn of 1882, stretching in width of migration-wave from Faroe
south to the English Channel, along our whole eastern seaboard,
driven, helpless and exhausted, upon our shores, by strong continuous
east and south-east winds. Much scarcer about Tongue since the
winter of 187S-79.

Fire-crested Wren — Regulus ignicapillus (C. L. Brehm).

A specimen recorded by St. John in the collection of Mr. Bantock, late
keeper at Dunrobin.

Family TROGLODYTID.E.

Common Wren — Troglodytes parvulus (Koch.)
Resident, and common everywhere in the east ; frequenting the very
wildest places on the hillside, especially the burn sides overhung with
long heather, even in the severest winter. Perhaps not quite so abun-
dant in the west, still common in almost every suitable locality ;
singing loud above the roar of the Kirkaig Falls, and sitting there
almost within reach of the spray.

Family CERTHIIDvE.

Tree Creeper — Ccrthia familiaris (Linn.)

Resident, and common in the east, where there is sufficient wood, and we
have obtained its nest here. Generally solitary. Mr. Houstoun tells
us that in the beginning of March 1SS2 he saw some dozens of these
birds together, five of them on one tree. Unknown in the west ;
common at Rosehall, and present at Lairg and at Tongue.

Family PARIDiE.

Great Titmouse — Parus major, Linn.

Very rare in the east ; one specimen in the Dunrobin Museum. Sheriff
Mackenzie writes us he has never seen this bird about Dornoch. This
species has, however, certainly been observed by us on one occasion
near Loch Inver, in the west. As yet absent around Tongue. There
are eggs purporting to be of this species in the Dunrobin Museum,'
but unfortunately there are no notes available regarding them. If
they were taken in a new locality it would have possibly helped our
estimation of their distribution to have the date and place recorded.

APPENDIX. 339

Blue Tit — Pants cccruleus, Linn.
Resident ; occurring in all suitable localities along the south-east where
there is wood ; more frequently observed in winter. Rare in the west
and very local. Some years ago we described it as "common in the
west but local," but we now believe this to have been an error ; other-
wise, there has been a change of circumstances. Our subsequent notes
do not bear out the previously published statement.

Cole Titmouse — Parus ate?; Linn.

Abundant and resident in the east ; receiving apparently large additions
in the winter. This Tit inhabits all the patches of old birch-wood in
the district, and breeds there, in winter associating with such other
birds as blue and long-tailed tits, and gold crests, besides those of its
own species. Commoner in the west than either of the two last-named
species. Common at Tongue (Auct. 3. Crawford). Recorded as rare in
Caithness (Osborne), only two specimens having been obtained there
subsequent to 1S40. In 1878, we found a nest of young Cole Tits, in
a crack in a dry hill of peat, on a burn side near Overskaig on Loch
Shin. The only trees, for quite a mile around, were a few birch-trees in
a hollow on the burn side.

Long-tailed Titmouse — Acredula rosea (Blyth).
Resident and common, flocks being observed in winter in all the east
coast straths we have visited at that season. Most frequently observed
in winter and apparently more abundant then ; this, however, as in the
case of the cole tit, may be, firstly, because the leaves being then off'
the trees the birds are more easily seen, and secondly, that these birds
then go in flocks. Sheriff Mackenzie informs us this bird breeds
regularly in the birch-woods about Lairg. Present also around Tongue
in the north, but reported as having decreased of late years, especially
since the winter of 1878-79 (J. Crawford, 1S84). Not observed hitherto
in the west.

Family AMPELID.E.

Waxwing — Ampclis garrulus, Linn.
Very rare and casual visitant. The only specimen known to us came
into the possession of the late Mr. Dunbar of Brawl ; it was shot in a
garden near Balblair, Invershin, date unknown.

Family MOTACILLID^.

Pietl Wagtail — Motacilla lugubris, Temm.

Summer visitant ; abundant everywhere in the county, rarely remaining
the winter through ; arrives very early in spring.

Gray Wagtail — Motacilla melanope, Pall.

A summer visitant ; fairly numerous in the eastern district. Returns
with great regularity to the same nesting-place year after year. After
the severe winter of 1878-79 two nesting- places we knew of in the
latter district were, however, unvisited. Occurs in winter occasion-
ally about Bonar, we having received a specimen from there in the
flesh in 1869. Local in the west, visiting regularly the same spots
every year. Not very abundant.

Obs. Pay's Wagtail — Motacilla rayii, Bon.
This species is included in Mr. A. G. More's sub-province 35, but with
a mark of interrogation. He says "This bird has been seen as far

340 APPENDIX.

north as Sutherland by Mr. St. John and Sir W. Jardine," etc., but
we have never met with it nor heard of it during some eighteen years'
experience of the county.

Tree Pipit — Anthus trivialis (Linn. )

Summer visitant ; rare and local. First recorded as a breeding species
in 1875, when two pairs were seen and a nest taken at Glenrossal near
Rosehall. At the latter place a single specimen had been observed
before. Casual visitant in the west ; the only instance of its occur-
rence we can recall being that of a solitary example at Inchnadainph
previous to 1875. Reported occasional at Tongue.

Meadow Pipit — Anthus pr a tensis (Linn.)

Resident ; partially migratory ; abundant everywhere in summer, much
scarcer in winter. Rarely occurs above the heather line, at least in our
experience, though Selby speaks of it as met with " on the summits of
the highest hills." This species, along with the Rock Pipit, were
extremely abundant around Durness, and on the peninsula of Far-out
Head, where we observed them in 1882.

Rock Pipit — Anthus obscurus (Lath.)

Resident ; abundant ; breeding all along the coast, excepting that part
from about Port Gower to the Dornoch Firth where the locality is not
suitable, but it is found there in the winter. Perhaps most numerous
along the north coast ; in great numbers on the peninsula forming
Far-out Head, near Durness. Omnipresent on the coast-lines of the
west, and on the islands, where it often breeds on the flat ground,
under the shelter of a rock or stone, or ledge of turf, like the meadow
pipit, though usually choosing the safer positions amongst the sea-
pinks of the precipices.

Family ALAUDIDjE.

Skylark — Alaucla arvensis, Linn.

Resident, and abundant ; breeding commonly along the coast-line
and the low meadows in the valleys, more sparingly on the hills
through the eastern and central districts, retiring from these latter
places coastwards as winter approaches. Abundant on the inland
moors above Oykel Bridge and around Loch Clashmore. Generally
common around Altnagealgach, but farther west, in Assynt, more
restricted to cultivated districts. Common at Drumbeg and Point of
Stoir, also at Scourie and Altnaharra.

Family EMBERIZIDiE.

Snow-Bunting — Tlcctrophanes nivalis (Linn. )
Winter visitant ; common ; only appearing on the low grounds in severe
weather.

Reed-Bunting — Embcriza schcenidus, Linn.
Resident ; not common ; generally distributed in the eastern districts ;
much rarer in winter, and the same remarks apply in the west.

Common Bunting — Embcriza miliaria, Linn.
Resident, and common, being found along the whole of the eastern coast-
line wherever there is sufficient cultivation ; more abundant, appar-
ently, in the summer than the winter. Observed in the west at
Knockan and Elphin, also at Scourie, and the first observed at Inch-

APPENDIX. 341

nadamph in 18S2. In 1882 we also met with it sparingly at Durness.
It is fairly common at Rosehall, and on the districts bordering the
Oykel river below Langwell, and the Kyle of Sutherland.

Yellow-hammer— Emberiza citrinclla, Linn.

Resident, and common in the east. These birds extend far into the
interior of the county to breed, returning to the greater extent of
cultivated ground near the coast in the winter. Common in suitable
places in the western districts. Apparently increased in numbers at
Inchnadamph by 1877, and by 1880 more abundant around Lairg and
the improved lands near Loch Shin. Seen at Altnaharra in 1S81 not
uncommonly.

Family FRINGILLIDJE.

Chaffinch — Fringilla Calebs, Linn.
Resident, and abundant, breeding through the eastern district wherever
there is sufficient wood ; in the autumn and winter these birds draw
down to the more cultivated parts of the county, and their numbers
appear to be increased by the addition of migrants. Has spread rapidly
and increased in the west of the county. Formerly we only knew of
one pair at Inchnadamph, which bred there for the first time about
1S77. Now they are common, but a slight check was put on their in-
crease by the severe winters. Also observed at Altnaharra and
Tongue in 1SS1.

Brambling — Fringilla montif ring ilia, Linn.
Winter visitant of rare occurrence. One sent to Inverness for preserva-
tion by Mr. Macleay ; of this bird I have received the following note :—
"M'Intyre (the Balnacoil keeper) killed the Brambling two years ago
in the autumn, at Aschoil (near Balnacoil). There were two of them,
cock and hen, but the latter was destroyed by the shot. They were
in company with a lot of chaffinches (?) M'Intyre said. He had never
seen the same kind of bird before, nor has he since." (G. R. Lawson,
in lit.) There is a Brambling in the Dunrobin Museum labelled
"Tawny Bunting, Clyne, Mar. 1846," along with two tawny buntings
{vera), and probably shot along with the latter ; came originally from
the old collection at the Dunrobin Kennels.l

Tree-Sparrow — Passer montanus (Linn. )
Local ; probably resident. First described as a Sutherland bird by
Sheriff Mackenzie from Dornoch, where he himself first observed the
birds in 1872. On March 28, 1872, a flock of a dozen were observed in
the neighbourhood of Dornoch, and between then and August several
nests of eggs were obtained, one of which sets of eggs, thanks to Mr.
Mackenzie, is now in our collection at Dunipace. The only place we
have ever seen or heard of it in the west is at Clachtoll in Stoir, where
we observed a single bird in 18S3. First observed near Helmsdale in
August 1SS0, again in September of the same year, and many sub-
sequent times, such as in June 18S1, January 1SS3, and December of
the same year ; again in March 1SS4. Their nest has not been found
as yet at Helmsdale, but there is little doubt that they breed there.

House Sparrow — Passer domesticus (Linn.)
Resident, abundant along the east coast ; local farther inland. At
Gordonbush, Strath Brora, we never remember to have seen a

1 It is curious to find how completely "out of the track of migration "
of a large number of birds this county appears to be.

342 APrENDix.

Sparrow ; but at Balnacoil in 1S79 — and that year only — a pair bred
there. Has once occurred at Badenloch. In the west appeared at
Inchnadamph for the first time in 1S82, when a pair arrived in
spring after a gale of wind, and remained and bred, and they again
are present in 1884. Common at Altnaharrow. Present, but not
abundant, at Durness, also at Scourie, and again at Tongue and else-
where.

Greenfinch — Ligurinus chloris (Linn. )
Resident ; not numerous ; probably confined to the south-east of the
county. Rare or absent in the west, and rare about Tongue.

Goldfinch — Carduelis elegans (Stephens).

Must be extremely rare, as we ourselves have never seen this bird ; Mr.
Mackenzie informs us that it is known to breed at Dornoch, and that
birds are occasionally seen in his neighbourhood. St. John remarks
upon it as being very rare even when he was in the county, 1848, but
it was common then in comparison with the present time. "A pair
were seen in a birch-wood on the banks of Loch Laoghal by Mr. James
Wilson " — one of Mr. Selby's party — in 1834. It has not been observed,
up to date, at Tongue.

Siskin — Carduelis spinus (Linn.)

Resident ; breeding about Dunrobin regularly, and probably does so
through all the wooded districts of the south-east ; the nest, how-
ever, is extremely difficult to find, being placed on a pine-tree, and
generally at the end of a branch, concealed from beneath by the cup
formed by the uprising of the terminal fronds. Our informant says
that they breed at two different times of the year, — first in April and
May, and again in June and July, he having taken the young in
August ; he also says the earlier breeders are smaller and more lively
and cheerful than the later ones. Mr. T. Mackenzie reared a young
one taken on the 21st May 1S75, and it proved an interesting pet.
Mr. E. R. Alston observed several birds at Rosehall when he was
passing south in June 1877.

Lesser Redpoll — Linota rufescens (Vieill.)
Breeds rather commonly in some of the birch and alder woods on the
east coast ; fresh eggs may be taken from the middle of May to the
middle of June. Breeds almost in a colony, near Lairg. Not hitherto
observed in the west of the county, and unrecorded in the Tongue
district, or elsewhere in the north.

Linnet — Linota cannabina (Linn.)

Resident, and common on the east coast, especially from Port Gower
to the Mound, where there are great quantities of whin bushes suitable
for breeding sites ; their place in the straths is taken by the Lesser Red-
pole. Not common in the west. During our experience we have shot
some half-dozen specimens. Occurs, perhaps regularly, at Inchnadamph.
Seen there, certainly, previous to 1877, and again in that year, but not
observed since then. Reported common at Tongue.

Twite — Linota flavirostris (Linn. )

Not known in the south-east, at least as a breeding species ; may pos-
sibly occur with the flocks of common linnets in the winter. Breeds
regularly at Inchnadamph, and has done so as long as we remember
the place, but only in limited numbers. In 1884 a flock of at least 40
seen in early part of May by Mr. J. Young. Comparatively common
also at Drumbeg, on the north coast of Stoir, where we met with them
first in 1883. Rare or absent, so far as known, on the north coast
between Cape Wrath and Whiten Head, though the ground around

APPENDIX. 343

Far-out Head is admirably suited to their requirements. Decidedly
increased in number at Inehnadamph by 1882. No absolute record
from Tongue.

BnW&nch—Pyrrhula europcea (Vieill.)
Resident ; not very common, most frequently seen in the winter ; more
abundant probably in the east than the west during the summer,
in which latter district it was first seen by us in July 1S83, in the
plantations around Loch Inver, on which occasion we saw a good
many. Mr. Crawford never saw any at Tongue except during one year,
about ten years ago, say 1874.

Crossbill — Loxia atrvirostra (Linn.)
Resident ; breeding in the large fir- woods in the south-east of the county ;
in some years they are more abundant than in others ; they were plen-
tiful in the year 1881. As early as 1849 St. John speaks of the Cross-
bill as becoming numerous. At Rosehall they were only common
for a short time about fifty years ago, after that they entirely disap-
peared, as we are informed by Mr. Macleay, who was a lad at the time,
and saw them about that time.

Family STURNID^.

Starling — Sturnus vulgaris, Linn.
Resident and increasing ; rare previous to the year 1870. This species
is at present mostly confined to the coast-line ; a pair, however, bred
at Balnacoil, ten miles up the Brora Strath, in 1879. Abundant at
Scourie, Handa, and the Badcall Islands, where they nest in holes in
the peaty turf, and also in holes which we believe to be occupied later
in the season by petrels (Thalassidroma). Common also at Durness
and Tongue.

Raven — Corvus corax, Linn.
Resident, only a few pairs breeding in certain localities throughout the
eastern district ; most abundant in the late spring and autumn. Near
Balnacoil there is a rock in which more than a hundred Ravens used
to roost, as late as 1S78 ; there was another rock where great numbers
also roosted, but this has been deserted for years, so probably they took
to the other locality mentioned above. i Common in the west, though
much persecuted, but scarcely so abundant as some eight or ten years
previous to 1877. Scarcer around Durness, though by no means
approaching extinction in 18S2.

A pretty regular crop of Ravens is found annually, as shown in the
following notes : —

In Assynt in 1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879

And in Durness in

10

18

19

17

24

10

7

2

1

1S74 .

. 11

1S75 .

. 10

1876 .

. 14

1877 .

. 14

1878 .

. 9

1879 .

. 16

Total in Durness and Assynt in ten years .... 189

1 These congregations of Ravens are not common in Scotland ; other
localities known to us where they occur are at certain points of the Wig-
tonshire coast, and the hills of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.

344 APPENDIX.

In the Reay Forest in six years to 1SS0 112

And by another hand in same place in seven years— 1873 to 1879 224
In Assynt, by one keeper, besides the above .... 134

At Dunrobin, 1873-80 . . . 202

Assynt, by another hand 31

Total killed in the county, so far as our returns show in a single decade,
6(32 Ravens, which, at a premium of 2s. 6d. each, represents money to
the amount of £S2 : 15s.

Carrion Crow — Corvus corone, Linn.
Very rare in the east. One bird paired with a hoodie in 1878, and both
old and young were subsequently killed in a wood near Dunrobin.
They are stated to breed in a wood near Melvich in considerable
numbers. At Tongue a brood is reported to appear usually, after the
young rooks have flown, amongst the rooks, and this has taken place
annually since 1879 inclusive. Mr. Crawford also speaks of them as
breeding in some numbers at Kirkton, near Melvich ; and in a letter
dated 17th of March 18S4 he also says : — "Carrion Crows are, I regret
to say, becoming very numerous and destructive to game of every
description." Unknown in the west.

Hooded Crow — Corvus comix, Lirm.

Resident, and too abundant ; no great additions arriving in autumn, as
is the case lower down on the east coast, the average numbers being
pretty well sustained the year round. The total returns we have
received from Assynt, Durness, Reay Forest, and Dunrobin, etc.,
in nine years, are 3392, which, at Is. each of premium, represents
£169 : 12s. Besides these there must be, probably, half as many more
killed for which no premiums are paid. Appears to be well kept
down in the Durness district.

Hook — Corvus frugilegus, Linn.

Resident ; abundant ; rapidly increasing in the east. A few pairs of
these birds used to breed in some very low trees near Balnacoil ; these,
however, have lately been cut down. A solitary pair of Rooks built
in a birch-tree in a small wood near the same place. To the west the
only rookery we are aware of is at Cama Loch, in low birch-trees. In
corroboration of a surmise that they would spread to the wooded
shores of Loch Beannoch, near Loch Inver, and there endeavour to
displace the herons, in 1S77 they did appear and began to build ; but
the keeper, who told us of the fact, shot them down promptly, and
they have not since renewed the attempt. Flocks occasionally crowd
the trees round the manse at Inchnadamph, but no attempts have yet
been made at building there.

Rooks have established themselves at the following localities, and
the notes appended are the results of an inquiry we engaged in in 1879,
according to a circular sent out throughout Scotland : —

A very old-established rookery at Dunrobin, with a colony in 1879
of about 200 nests, built upon ash, elm, and Scotch fir. They have
been kept in moderate numbers, and have not increased or decreased
much. They have other roosting-places.

A rookery, a few years old only, established at Skibo with a colony
in 1879 of under 100 nests, built on Scotch fir and ash, have since
increased. Roost elsewhere.

At Kilmote, age of rookery unknown, about 100 nests in 1879, Scotch
fir and ash ; increasing.

At Tongue, established about 1S55, colony in 1S79 of about 500 nests
in Scotch fir. Increasing, and usually roost at another wood, migrating
daily to Far-out Head for food during hard winters.

At Kirkton, Rooks first appeared In 1S60, the first pair breeding
amongst rocks at Bighouse Bay, and afterwards taking to the old fir-
woods at Kirkton ; they originally came from Westfield, in Caithness ;

APPENDIX. 345

in 1879 there were about 500 nests, and were still increasing ; these
birds generally roost at the same wood in which their nests are.

Jackdaw — Corvus moncdula, Lin.
Resident, abundant, and everywhere increasing ; keeping, however, near
to the coast-line, and never venturing far inland. The Jackdaw is
found sparingly at Tongue, but has not as yet appeared in the west of
the county.

Obs. Chough — Pyrrochorax graeulus (Linn.)
No trace of this species has been found that we are aware of since
Dunbar and St. John, both referring to the results of the same trip,
recorded the occurrence of it on the north coast. As St. John saw the
birds himself there can be no doubt of the record, but their disappear-
ance since is only the same process exemplified which is going on in
other parts of Scotland as regards this species. A careful survey of
part of the north shore and cliff may, it is possible, still discover a
pair or two, but we consider this very unlikely.

Magpie — Pica rustica (Scopoli).
Resident ; extremely scarce now in the eastern district, having of late
years been killed down in the game-preserving interests ; quite common
in 1870. We find that, in 1873, 16 were killed in Dunrobin ; in 1S74, 26 ;
none again till 1877, when 2 were killed ; in 1S78, 2 ; in 1879, 3 ; and
in 1880, 5 ; or 56 in six years. Unknown in the west amongst the
keepers, except by evil reputation. Unknown at Tongue.

Family HIRUNDINID^E.

Swallow — Hirundo rustica, Linn.

Summer visitant, but local ; breeds here and there along the south-east
coast, but not seen far inland. Probably more common about Dornoch
than any other part of the county. Not common anywhere in the
west, and decreasing. Have always been very late of arrival in the
west. They arrive at Tongue about 2Sth April, which would be very
early in the west. They disappeared from Tongue in 1867 and 1868,
but reappeared in 1869 ; but they only very rarely breed there. Ap-
parently absent from Altnaharrow in June 1SS1.

House Martin— Chelidon urbica (Linn.)

A summer visitant ; local and scarce ; occurs mostly in the south-east.
One colony used to nest in a quarry or sandpit near the railway
bridge over the Golspie burn. We have seen a pair of these birds at
Balnacoil, Strath Brora, flying about and resting on the house in
July, but apparently the place was not suitable for breeding purposes,
as after a day or two they departed. Local and rare in the west, and
decreasing annually, for some years prior to 1877. Used to breed in
the limestone rocks of Stronchrubie, where we have only, however,
in all our experience, found old nests, so they must have almost dis-
appeared since Selby's record in 1834. St John found them in caves
close to Durness. We saw nothing of these in 1SS1. Common at
Tongue for a short time annually : doubtful if they breed there.

Sand-Martin — Cotile riparia (Linn.)
A summer visitant ; common and generally distributed in the east, where
suitable breeding localities can be found. Does not always breed in
large colonies ; in some places there are not more than a couple of
pairs. These remarks apply also to the west, but they are probably
still scarcer there, a few pairs frequenting a few scattered localities.
Observed in some numbers at Loch Slam and on the Borgie river,
near Tongue. There is a small colony at Lairg.

346 APPENDIX.

PICARI/E.

Family CYPSELIDiE.

Swift — Cypselus apus (Linn.)
Summer visitant ; breeding in suitable localities along the south-east
coast, but not plentiful. Seen at Badenloch, in the centre of the
county, but does not breed there. Never observed in the west, nor,
indeed, have we seen them anywhere in the north. Though reported
as common about the limestone cliffs of Durness, and breeding in the
Great Smoo Cave and elsewhere, we saw nothing of them there in 1SS1.
At Tongue Mr. Crawford lias twice seen Swifts, but they did not
remain to breed, but tarried only for two or three days. Mr. Booth
observed a few, however, near Durness, and again between Castletown
and Dunnet Head in Caithness.

Family CAPPJMULGIDiE.

Nightjar — Caprimulgus eurqpceus, Linn.
A summer visitant ; occurring pretty frequently in suitable localities in
the east, and no doubt will increase its range with the growth of the
young plantations. Up to 1S75 apparently perfectly unknown in
Assynt, their last outpost being Rosehall at that time. Was first
observed at Casheldhu, near the head of Loch Emboli in 1882, when
a pair were frequently observed, and one unfortunately shot by the
keeper — Mr. Murray — in whose hands it now is. The first we our-
selves ever saw in the west was in July 1S83 at Loch Inver, but they
were reported to us as having occurred for some few years before
that date. In July 1883 one constantly hawked for insects close
round the Loch Inver Hotel in the evenings. Once observed at
Tongue many years ago by Mr. Crawford.

Family CUCULID^l.

Cuckoo — Cuculus canorus, Linn.

Summer visitant ; abundant in every part of the eastern district of the
county, even on the barest hillsides. Abundant also in the west, and,
indeed, all over the county — in the glens and hillsides, but not
ascending very high among the hills. Heard for the first time at
Inchnadamph on 23d May in 1877 ; season cold and backward, and
many migratory birds were that year later of arrival here than is
usually the case.

Family UPUPID.E.

Hoopoe — Upupci epops, Linn.
Casual and rare visitant. Mr. Houstoun writes from Kintradwell — "I
am sorry I can't give you the dates of when the Hoopoes were got
here, but I think it was in the month of September ; they were got in
the patch of big fir-wood." These examples occurred in different years.
Others, said to have been taken at Golspie in June 1S50, and again in
1858, are in the Dunrobin Museum.

APPENDIX. 347

Family CORACIIDiE.

Holler — Coracias garrulus, Linn.
Rare visitant. An example was shot by a nephew of Mr. Fraser, the
fiscal of the county, near Dornoch, and was set up by Mr. Macleay of
Inverness. There is a specimen in the Dunrobin Museum labelled
Morvich, June 9, 1854. The Dornoch one was shot much later.
(And. Dr. J. M. Joass.)

Family ALCEDINIDiE.

Kingfisher — Alccdo ispida, Linn.

Rare visitant. There is a specimen in the Dunrobin Museum. Another
was killed at the Little Ferry by Eric Ross, one of the Duke of
Sutherland's keepers, on February 1, 1S7S, and was seen in the flesh
by Mr. Thomas Mackenzie.

Family PICID.E.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker — Picus major, Linn.

Accidental winter visitant ; in 1862 (?) very abundant, being shot in
almost eveiy part of the east of the county, even on Ben Clibrick, but
several years may pass without one being seen.

Obs. Green Woodpecker — Gecinus viridis (Linn.)

One in the Dunrobin Museum is marked " Bonar, 1S48," but this requires
confirmation.

COLUMB/E.

Family COLUMBIA.

Ring-Dove — Columba jmlumbus, Linn.

Resident in the eastern district ; very common in the wooded and culti-
vated parts of the south-east. A number of these birds spread up the
straths and into any isolated x>atches of wood during the breeding
season, retiring coastwards on the approach of winter. In Assynt, in
1S69, one pair were observed at Inchnadamph, which remained for a
few days, but did not tarry longer. In 1877 we find the note, "Not
uncommon in the young plantations around Loch Inver." In 18S3
they were seen commonly. Previous to 1869 they appear to have been
unknown in the west. As early as 1S34 Selby observed it at the base
of Ben Loyal, near Tongue'; but he adds — "a few pairs only were seen
during our excursion." Seen at Altnaharrow in June 1881.

Rock-Dove — Columba livia, Bonnat.

"At this time (1884) the Rock -Dove is nearly, if not quite, extinct in
the east of Sutherland ; eight or nine years ago they could be seen
from morning until evening going to and fro from their breeding-
places in the rocks on the Caithness side of the Ord, in flocks of thirty
and forty, all the year through ; now it is a rare thing to see one. The
last I remember seeing was a small flock of about half-a-dozen flying
over Helmsdale about three months ago. They are by no means a
hardy bird, and I attribute their scarcity entirely to the several severe
winters we have had since 1876. They have been seen to fall dead in

348 APPENDIX.

the air when flying during protracted severe weather. I have often
caught them in the Navidale stackyards unable to walk or fly, nothing
but bones." — (J. Hill, Esq., in lit.) Generally distributed on the
north coast, more local in the west, preferring the mainland caves,
as a rule, to those on islands. Fairly common at Stoir Head, but
nowhere to be called abundant. A pair of apparently perfectly pure
wild Rock-Pigeons frequented the inn at Inchnadamph in May and
June 1877, associating with the House Pigeons ; they have not returned
up to 1S83.

Turtle-Dove — Turtur communis, Selby.
Very rare summer visitant. Two specimens in Dunrobin Museum are
labelled "Kirkton, Jul. 1S54 :" "Crakaig, Sep. 1879." (Auct. Rev. Br.
J. M. Joass.) Mr. J. Crawford, writing us in 1S79, says— "On inquiry
I find that several Turtle-Doves have been shot in the Melvich dis-
trict some three years ago. I do not remember having seen any
here (Tongue) previous to the one I sent you." This bird was shot,
but much lacerated, by a pea-rifle bullet, so much so that we could
not preserve it.

PTEROCLETES.

Family PTEROCLID^.

Pallas Sand Grouse — Syrrlmptcs paradoxus (Pall.)
Extremely rare ; accidental visitant. A specimen in the County Museum
was taken at Dornoch on June 6, 1S63.

GALLIN/E.

Family TETRAONIDiE.

Black Grouse — Tctrao tutrix, Linn.
Resident and numerous, being found scattered through the eastern
districts, irrespective of wood or cover, but is more restricted in the
west, and confined to birch coverts and the lake and river sides, being
seldom seen on open ground.

Obs. Capercaillie — Tetrao urogallus, Linn.
Extinct in the county, though! it was present in Sir Robert Gordon's
time. Attempts at reintroduction have been made by Mr. Chirnside
in 1870, at Skibo (vide, The Capercaillie in Scotland. D. Douglas, Edin-
burgh, p. 99), and at Ospisdale. One bird survived at Skibo for two
years but finally disappeared. There being 1S00 acres or more of suit-
able wood on the property, we cannot but believe that an attempt on a
sufficiently larger scale would succeed, if it is considered a desirable
addition to the game of the district.

Red Grouse — Lagopus scoticus (Lath.)
Resident ; some years more abundant than others ; most abundant in
the season of 1880, since which time the county has never entirely been
free from disease, though this scourge has not been equally destructive
in all places. Grouse migrate much in this county ; many birds were
seen at the beginning of 1883 on the east coast, yet few remained to
breed, and scarcely any were to be found in the shooting season, nor

APPENDIX. 349

was any sign of dead birds found ; in the west of the county, however,
good sport has been had for several years back, in places where
formerly scarcely a grouse was to be seen, and the conclusion is that
the birds migrate there from the east.1

The fluctuations in numbers from year to year to which Grouse
are now subject, opens up a large question for full treatment (which
we have not room for here), owing to many causes which, we believe,
are quite within the grasp of the naturalist to understand. Com-
mon in west Sutherland at certain localities, especially above the
limestone, where in Assynt 700 and 600 brace were killed in two
seasons respectively. Tape-worm in 1874, and late cold spring with
frost and much cold rain, almost brought them to the verge of extinc-
tion in 1S76 and 1877, and we did not see a single bird along all the 35
miles of road between Lairg and Inchnadamph, where they used to be
fairly abundant. They partly recovered in 1S7S.

Bare in Stoir and Aardvaar, owing to the superabundance of old rank
heather and irrepressible hoodie crows. Grouse do not "pack" in the
west of Sutherland.

Ptarmigan — Lagopus mutus, Leach.
Resident ; much scarcer than formerly in the east. Has disappeared from
all the hills it used to inhabit on the Caithness march ; also from the
Bens Griam and Ben Uarie, within the last forty or fifty years, from
the last-named place last of all ; getting much scarcer, too, on Ben
Armine, and even on Ben Clibrick. During the severe winter of 18S0-81
three Ptarmigan were seen not far from Ben Horn in the Dunrobin
Forest.

Abundant in the west, and all the high mountains, but more so on
the continuous ranges than on the isolated hills. The range of Glas-
bhein, Ben Uidhe, Ben Harran (Chaoran), Ben More, and Braebag, is
perhaps the best Ptarmigan range in the county.

Family PHASIANIDiE.

Pheasant — Phasianus colchicus, Linn.
Resident ; only numerous where hand-reared and preserved. Pheasants
were introduced as long ago as 1S41 at Skibo {New Stat. Acct), where
they are numerous at present. Introductions have taken place also
at Kildonan in the Helmsdale Strath, and a few are seen occasionally
near Loch Brora. In Assynt Mr. Whitbread introduced them in 1869,
and they promised well for some time. Since then, however, they
have practically become extinct, an old bachelor cock living on till
1S82. Pheasants have also been introduced at Tongue quite lately.
It remains to be seen how they will succeed.

Partridge — Perdix cinerea, Lath.
Resident ; fairly abundant in the cultivated districts of the south-east,
and occurs here and there farther inland, where the shepherds have a
little more reclaimed land than is usually the case. A covey is occasion-
ally seen at Badenloch, but they are not regular visitants there. The
outlying coveys draw down to the coast in severe weather.

Common about Rosehall and Lairg. Seen at Tongue by Sir. W.
Milner, and fairly common to the north of Loch Inver. A pair were
seen in 1S34, at Inchnadamph, by Mr. Selby's party ; at this place,
where there are only some 10 or 15 acres under cultivation, two pairs

i With reference to the above, it may be noted here that a pack of Grouse
was seen flying south over the Moray Firth, and making for the Banff
coast, in December 1S79. — (J. A. H.-B.)

350 APPENDIX.

were seen in 1869, and, in the autumn of that year, Mr. Hardcastle
killed 16 brace. About the year 1S77 there was only one pair in the
district, and even these were not seen every successive year. From
Tongue Mr. Crawford writes us, under date March 17, 18S4, " Partridges
are extinct (at Tongue) since the severe winter of 1879 : I have only
seen one solitary bird since then."

Quail — Coturnix communis (Bonnaterre).

Has occurred on the east coast on several occasions between Brora and
Dornoch. A deserted nest was obtained by Sheriff Mackenzie in
September 1873, and there are also specimens in the Dunrobin Museum.
As early as 1830 the Quail is noted as occurring, being included in a
list of birds given in A Tour through Scotland, p. 151, as seen there in
the then keeper's house at Dunrobin. Several nests have been found
about the same district.

FULICARIyE.

Family RALLIDvE.

Corn-Crake — Crex pratensis, Bechstein.

Summer visitant ; very abundant in the east, being found in every
locality where there is any extent of cultivation, and even occasionally
out on the barren moor, but the latter rarely. Rare in the west, but
a pair or two in most cultivated areas of sufficient size.

Water-Rail — Rallus aquaticiis, Linn.
Winter visitant of not rare occurrence in suitable localities on the east
coast.

Included as a breeding species by Mr. A. G. More in Sub-province
35, but we have no further corroborative notes.

Waterhen— Gallinula chloropus (Linn.)
Resident and local; mostly confined to the south-east, where in one
place they are very abundant ; we have received eggs from a locality
in the north-east, and also seen a bird on a hill loch at a considerable
distance from its more usual habitats.

Only one locality known to us in the west where one pair of birds
bred regularly for a number of years. Common at Tongue.

Coot — Fidica atra, Linn.
Scarce ; we have observed this species on Loch Bad-an-eontigh, in the
parish of Rogart, and Mr. Crawford of Tongue informs us that he
formerly (previous to 1877) observed this species on a small lochan in
the parish of Fair, where it bred, but for some years back it had not
reappeared there ; we have observed it in one or two other lochs in
the east of the county. Has been shot singly at Tongue ; apparently
came in from seaward on two occasions. Not hitherto recorded in
the west.

LIMICOL/E.

Family CHARADRIID^.

Dotterel — Eudromias morinellus (Linn,)

There is nothing to add to what has been said by St. John about the
Dotterel in his time. Ben Clibrick is the only place in the county

APPENDIX. 351

known to us as having been visited by this bird ; it has, however, been
observed there both by Mr. Crawford of the Lairg Hotel, and also by
Donald Gillies, for a long time a keeper with Mr. Akroyd at Altna-
harra. A specimen in the Dunrobiu Museum was obtained on Ben
Clibrick on 18th June 1846.

Ringed Plover — Aecjialitis hiaticula (Linn.)
Resident and abundant all along the east coast, and also breeds inland
in one or two situations, notably on the shores of the chain of lochs at
Badenloch. Rarer in the west, but common on the stony waste of
land to the south-east of Durness, where the crofters cut their peats,
near Loch Maidagh or Maeddie, and on the bed of a drained-out loch.

Golden Plover — Charadrius p>luvialis, Linn.
Resident and abundant, but rarer and much more local in winter.
Breeds through all the moorland district, being commoner in the
wetter and more desolate districts. Numbers of these birds are often
to be seen in a flock on the green ground high up along the river
sides in May and early in June, probably non-breeding birds. Com-
mon in the west, especially above the limestone cliffs, on the moor
stretching back towards Loch Mulach Corry. Common between Dur-
ness and Cape Wrath.

Gray Plover — Squatarola helvetica (Linn.)
Rare visitant. Said by Sheriff Mackenzie to occur at intervals along the
Dornoch Firth. The only specimen seen by ourselves, and the only
one in the Dunrobiu Museum, was shot at Kintradwell, among some
stones on the shore, on January 20, 1871 : a solitary bird.

It may be worthy to remark here that Mr. Macleay of Inverness in
all his long bird-stuffing experience has never received but this one
specimen to set up.1

Lapwing — Vanellus vulgaris, Beclist.
Resident, and abundant ; though much scarcer in winter than at other
times. These birds ascend ali the straths where they can find suitable
places to build, even going quite into the centre of the county ; the
great bulk depart farther south after the breeding season. More local
in the west, but abundant in one or two localities, and occasionally
ground not before frequented is taken up by a few pairs, as, for
instance, on the flat meadows along the course of the river Loanan,
near Inchnadamph.

Turnstone — Strcpsilas interpres (Linn. )
Common the whole year round the coast, excepting during the breed-
ing season, from the middle of May to the middle or end of July, when
it is much scarcer, although stray individuals occur even then.

Oyster-catcher — Hccmatopus ostralcgus, Linn.
Resident, and common ; receiving large additions in the winter, at which
season the mussel-scalps at the Little Ferry are at times covered with
these birds. Occasionally seen inland on fresh - water lochs in the
west. Common on all the shore line and islands of the salt-water
lochs.

1 Our observations of migration tend to show that in spring Gray Plovers
shoot off our coasts at Spurn Point in Yorkshire. In autumn they are
regular visitors to the estuary of the Forth at Grangemouth, and also to
that of the Tay.

352 APPENDIX.

UMICOL/E.

Family SCOLOPACIDjE.

Gray Phalarope — Pkalaropus fulicarius, Linn.
Very rare winter visitant. The only specimen known to us, and now in
the County Museum, was shot at a pool of water on the Kintradwell
links by Mr. Houstoun on December 3, 1S69.

Rednecked Phalarope — Phalaropus hypcrboreus (Linn.)

St. John's record is the only one we can find of this bird as a Sutherland
species ; a pair were seen by him at Altnaharra, at the head of Loch
Naver, on June 10, 184S.

"Woodcock — Scolopax rusticola (Linn. )

Resident, and common ; as a breeding species has much increased of late
years ; rare in the central and north-east districts. Woodcocks seem
to be least common about August and September ; after the young
can fly well, possibly they go south, thus accounting for " early
arrivals " there. The numbers of those shot on the east coast varies
with the season, as, unless driven in by frost, or, still more, deep snow,
Woodcocks remain on the hills.

Common in the birch-woods of Assynt in summer, and flights occur
in winter. Breeds regularly also around Tongue.

Common Snipe — Gallinago ccelestis (Frenzel.)

Resident, common, and generally distributed ; more abundant in the
lowlands in the winter, as the Snipes then leave the higher grounds.
Much scarcer since the two late severe winters ; and even before then
these birds were getting much rarer in the central districts during
the summer and autumn.
Common ; but less so of late years in the west.

Jack Snipe — Gallinago gallinula (Linn.)

Autumn visitant, scarcer in winter. Much as has been said of the
breeding of this species in Scotland there is no evidence of sufficient
reliability, either in this county or elsewhere in Scotland.

Dunlin — Tringa alpina, Linn.

Resident ; most numerous in the breeding season, rare in the winter.
The Dunlin is sparsely scattered all through the moorland district in
the breeding season, being most numerous in the wet flow lands of
the centre, but nowhere very abundant. From its unobtrusive
habits and extreme tameness it does not appear even as common as
it is. The only place we have observed it in winter is on the large
mud-flats on the north-east side of the Little Ferry, and Sheriff Mac-
kenzie records it as common on the Dornoch Firth, near where it
breeds in one locality. Annual breeder also at Lairg, and on the flows
westward to Loch Shin, above Oykel Bridge, and at Loch TJrigill, and
again near Loch Inver at one locality. Very common near Cape Wrath
and near Tongue.

Purple Sandpiper — Tringa striata, Linn.

Winter visitant, abundant along the coast wherever there are rocks and
stones suitable for it ; rarer on the sandy shores. We have noted
this species as late as the 26th May 1808 on the Badeall Islands, and
it is frequently seen late in spring and beginning of summer on the
shores and islands of the west coast.

APPENDIX. 353

Knot— Tringa canutus, Linn.

Mr. Mackenzie reports this bird as common at the Dornoch Firth ; we
ourselves once saw a large flock of waders at the Little Ferry, which
we thought referable to this species ; none, however, were procured.

Sander ling — Calidris arenaria (Linn.)

Autumn visitant, and scarce. The only place in which we have observed
them has been the sandy beach between Brora and Kintradwell.

Obs. — There are specimens of ruffs (machetes pugnew) in full breed-
ing plumage in the Dunrobin Museum, but there is not sufficient
evidence of their having been obtained in the county to include them
in our list ; they are not recorded by Sheriff Mackenzie from the
Dornoch Firth. A ruff in Dunrobin Museum came there from the old
collection at the kennels ; but this is all the information regarding it.

Common Sandpiper — Actitis hypolcueos (Linn.)

Summer visitant, abundant all through the county, arriving about the
end of April, and leaving directly the young are able to fly well. We
have met with this species 2500 feet above the sea, in the old pass
over Ben Chaorin. Breeds both inland and on the islands of the
sea-lochs.

Green Sandpiper — Totanus ochropus (Linn.)

Very rare visitant. One shot at Helmsdale in the winter of 1S79 (as far
as we can remember) ; came to Inverness to be preserved, where we
saw it in Mr. Macleay's shop.

Redshank — Totanus calidris (Linn.)

Besident, and abundant ; generally distributed through the whole of
the county in the breeding season, preferring those places, generally
marshy, where there are tufts of grass in which to hide its nest ;
retires to the coast in winter. Barer in the west, but common at one
locality in Assynt. Less plentiful about Tongue than the greenshank.

Greenshank — Totanus glottis (Pall.)

A summer visitant, generally distributed through the whole of the
county. One of the most interesting of the Sutherland birds. On
their arrival about the end of April they go almost at once to their
nesting-grounds, remaining a very short time on the low lands in the
valleys ; when the young are able to fly well they seem to go straight
away to the south, not remaining long anywhere about the shores, at
least in the east of the county. The nest is generally placed on a dry
hillock, amongst stones and lichens, and the young are taken by their
parents to the nearest marsh as soon as hatched.
Its local name in the west is " Teoch-vingh," in imitation of its cry.

Bar-tailed Godwit — Limosa lapponica (Linn. )
Autumn and winter visitant, occurring on the south-east coast most
seasons, in small parties ; has been seen and shot in the months of
September, November, and December.

Obs.- — Black-tailed Godwit — Limosa melanura (Linn.)

We would like to know what became of the specimen, said to be of this
species, recorded, by "Nether Lochaber" (the Rev. Alex. Stewart of
Ballachulish) as having been shot near Helmsdale (Inverness Courier,
Dec. 26, 1SS1). Macleay of Inverness has only had one or two in his
shop in all his experience, and it is an extremely rare species in Scot-
land.

VOL. II. 2 A

354 APPENDIX.

Curlew — Numenius arquata (Linn.)

Resident in the east ; most abundant in the breeding season. These
birds breed all through the moorland districts, coming to the green
places in the straths about the third y/eek in March ; shortly after
this they pair and go to their nesting-grounds.

Common in the west, but local in the extreme west. Increased
around Loch Awe by 1877.

Whimbrel — Numenius phocopus (Linn. )

Spring and autumn visitant, not rare on the east coast.

We can obtain no definite or trustworthy account of their breeding
in the county, notwithstanding Mr. Dunbar's statement (Ibis, 1SB5, p.
435). Occur during spring migration on the north coast, and were
supposed to retire to the interior, but there is every reason to doubt
this, and to believe they left on a more northerly track. We have
before criticised all previous records (Proc. N. H. Soc. Glasgow, 1S75,
p. 111). An egg handed to us as having been taken on an island in
Glen Coul, Assynt, as belonging to this species is — however like
a Whimbrel's — not authenticated, and may quite well be a deformed
common gull.

HERODII.

Family ARDEIDiF.

Heron — Ardea cinerea, Linn.

Resident, apparently more numerous in winter. Only one heronry is
known to us in the east of the county, which, up to 1873, was situated
on the south side of Loch Brora, but afterwards the birds removed to
the Gordonbush woods on the north side. Herons frequent the in-
land burns as long as the weather is open, but when severe they come
down to the coast.

Some of the principal heronries in the west are those at Loch Shin,
on the island off the Fiag Burn, Loch Alsh (in the peninsular part of
Ross-shire), Loch Cama (now extinct, rooks being in possession), Loch
Beannoch, Stoir, Loch-na-Clash-fearn in Edderaehyllis, etc. Scarcer ■
at Loch Beannoch in 1877 than formerly.

ANSERES.

Family ANATIDiE.
Gray-lag Goose — Anser cinereus (Meyer).

A summer visitant, not rare, but has become much scarcer in the last
fifteen years, though not now so much shot at in the ''flapper" stage
as formerly. Less common in the south-east than in the central dis-
tricts, the large lochs near Badenloch being a sort of collecting ground
for the geese of that district. Arrives about the beginning of April,
and leaves the middle of September.

Still not rare in the west, especially on a loch in West Cromarty.
It is high time, however, that something were -done to restrict the
senseless slaughter of this interesting species. Many, apparently
barren, or otherwise immature birds, flock together in summer in the
west, while others are engaged in incubation.

APPENDIX. 355

Brent Goose — Bernicla brenta (Pall.)

A winter visitant to the east coast, but not arriving until very late in
the season.

Bemacle Goose — Bernicla leucopsis (Beclist.)
Occurs at Scourie as a winter visitant.

Mute Swan — Cygnus olor (Gmel.)

A pair or two (tame) breed on Loch Brora, and there are also four or
live about the Mound and Little Ferry.

Whooper — Cygnus musicus, Beclist.

An occasional winter visitant, a few being seen nearly every winter.
Rarely seen in the west, more frequently in the north.

Bewick's Swan — Cygnus beivickii, YarrelL

Winter visitant ; one shot at Altnaharra in the winter of 1S79 ; probably
of more frequent occurrence than is supposed, not being distinguished
from 0. musicus.

Obs. American Swan — Cygnus Americanus, Sharpless.
Three, entered on the authority of Mr. Harvie-Brown, as shot at Tain,
and which came to the Edinburgh market in 1880, it is to be feared
are not satisfactorily identified. Mr. Harvie-Brown at that time based
his opinion upon the anatomical peculiarities of the sternum and
trachea, but it seems doubtful now if these are not merely distinctive
of stages of age in the same species, and until we obtain a larger series
for comparison, the faunal value of these birds must remain in this
position for the present.

Shelldrake— Tadorna cornuta (S. S. Gmel.)

Most frequent during the breeding-season, nesting in the rabbit holes
in the sandhills of the north and east coast ; a few remain during winter
at the Little Ferry. Very common on Rabbit Island or Eilean-nan-
Ghael, Kyle of Tongue. Rare, or quite absent in the west, so far as
we can learn, although several suitable places occur, such as the
sandy slope of Handa, and the neighbourhood of Loch Sandwood.

Wild-Duck — -Anas boschas, Linn.

Common and resident, the only one of the true ducks that is commonly
to be met with inland during the winter. Common in the west, and
general, often breeding far up the hillsides and away from water. Also
at Tongue.

Shoveller — Spatula clypcata (Linn.)

As regards this duck Sheriff Mackenzie informs us — " Nor have we seen
the Shoveller Duck in the Dornoch Firth, though we have both (re-
ferring to Mr. Jennins, who punts in that locality) shot young birds
in the neighbourhood in the month of August. It was one of these
latter that I got Macleay to preserve for me. This year I am to have
a try for the eggs, for I know the loch where they breed." (In lit,
March 24, 1884.)

Teal— Querquedula crecca (Linn.)

Common, and resident ; like the Wigeon, retires to the coast and estuaries
almost entirely in the winter.

Tolerably abundant in the west, returning year after year to the
same place to breed.

356 APPENDIX.

Pintail — Dafila acuta (Linn. )

Occurs in winter and spring ; more frequent during the latter season ;
mostly confined to the south-east districts. Has occurred at Tongue,
but rarely, and has not been seen much of late years.

Wigeon — Mareca penelope (Linn.)

Common, and resident in the east ; most numerous at the Little Ferry
and Dornoch Firth in the winter. Breeds abundantly in some parts
of the eastern district of the county, notably about Loch Brora and
Loch Naver, more sparingly in other places. Observed at the head of
Loch Shin in summer of 1SS3, but it is open to doubt if it is found
anywhere in the west, or between the mountains and the sea. It is
found between Tongue and Loch Emboli in the north, and thence
eastwards.

Pochard — Fuligula ferina (Linn. )
Mr. Crawford tells us he is convinced this duck breeds at several
localities in the Tongue district, and he instanced one loch where they
are seen all summer. In the east it is a winter visitant only, not
uncommon in the Dornoch Firth.

Scaup — Fuligula marila (Linn.)

Mr. Selby records a single female shot by Sir W. Jardine in 1S34, which
was attended by a young bird which escaped. Sir W. Jardine, in a
subsequent communication to us, seemed to have some doubts if this
was, however, a young Scaup, but we cannot think there is reasonable
cause to suppose it was anything else. We have other strong presump-
tive evidence of its having bred. In June 1S6S Harvie-Brown shot an
adult male Scaup on a loch in the west, which, from the bird's unwilling-
ness to leave, even when repeatedly fired at, led him to think the female
was not far off ; and there is other evidence elsewhere detailed (Proc.
Nat. H. Soc. Glasg. 1875). In the south-east it is not an uncommon
winter visitant about the Little Ferry and Dornoch Firth. Rare in
the Tongue district.

Tufted Duck — Fuligula cristata (Leach).
Winter visitant ; has been shot in the Dornoch Firth.

Golden-eye — Clangula glaucion.

Sir W. Jardine includes this species as observed on two occasions ; one,
a male, between Thurso and Tongue, May 17 ; and on another occasion,
from a small loch near Loch Maddy (or Maedie ?), the party flushed a
female on the 21st of the same month. Mr. St. John also observed it
on Loch Laoghal in summer. It has been recorded by Mr. Dunbar as
breeding near Loch Assynt in the hollow of an old larch-tree. There
are now no larch -trees, to our knowledge, on the shores of Loch
Assynt, and we have never met with the species during eighteen years'
experience of the west. The Golden-eye is a common visitant to the
eastern districts, frequenting many of the inland lochs and still pools
in the rivers ; these are, as a rule, young birds and females, the older
males keeping more to the sea ; they remain until quite late in the
spring.

Long-tailed Duck — Harelda glacialis (Linn.)

A winter visitant, and very abundant along the coast wherever suitable
for them.

Eider Duck — Somateria mollissima (Linn. )

Said by St. John to breed on the islands off the Kyle of Tongue ; there
are specimens of this bird in the Dunrobin Museum. Breeds in small

APPENDIX. 357

numbers at Eilean Hoan, entrance of Loch Emboli, and other scattered
localities on the north coast. In 18S2 Harvie-Brown found broken
egg-shells of Eider Duck upon Eilean Chlaimraig, close to Eilean Hoan,
apparently broken by gulls, and the site of a nest of the previous year
was pointed out by the fisherman who accompanied him.

Velvet Scoter — CEdcmia fusca (Linn.)

Winter visitant, haunting the banks at the mouth of the Little Ferry,
the Dornoch Firth, and also those towards Golspie. About 1870 they
used to be met with opposite Kintradwell, but are rarely seen there
now ; perhaps the bank there may have shifted or got too deep for
the birds to reach by diving.

Black Scoter — GEdcmia nigra (Linn.)

Winter resident, not rare on the south-east coast. Dr. Joass of Golspie
informs us that this species bred in Sutherland in the year 1877, the
eggs having been taken, and both old birds shot.

As this species undoubtedly breeds not very rarely in Caithness,
just across the county march, it is fairly to be expected it will also be
found in Sutherland if looked for ; indeed, we ourselves on two occasions
in June 1S78 thought we recognised this duck on a loch not far from
Balnacoil. Recorded as often seen at Tongue. Not hitherto recorded
from the west.

Goosander — Mergus merganser (Linn.)

There are two specimens of this bird in the Dunrobin Museum ; we our-
selves have not observed it in the county, but Mr. Booth reported to
us — viva voce — that it bred ou the Shin ; and it also occurs occasion-
ally in the Dornoch Firth. Occurs commonly, as reported by Mr.
Crawford, at Tongue in winter. Not hitherto recorded from the west.

Red-breasted Merganser — Mergus serrator (Linn.)

Resident, and common ; breeding throughout the whole of the eastern
district ; only met with on the coast in winter. Abundant in the
west, breeding both on fresh and sea water lochs. Generally distri-
buted.

PYGOPODES.

Family COLYMBIDiE.

Great Northern Diver — Colymbus glacialis, Linn.

Common along the east coast in winter and spring, but more abundant
at the latter season. We have a fine specimen in our collection,
obtained on one of the pools of the'Brora river in May. Found in the
Kyle of Tongue all the year round, but most abundantly from Sep-
tember to February. We have recorded the presence of a pair on a far
inland fresh-water loch in mid-summer (see Zool., 2d ser. p. 1309). We
do not wish again to insist on the fact of their breeding, but we still
adhere to the correctness of our statement as to their authentication
on that occasion.

Black-throated Diver — Colymbus arcticus, Linn.

Summer visitant, breeding on many of the lochs in the eastern district ;
rarely seen on the coast, going straight to their breeding-grounds, and
leaving at once for the south as soon as the young can fly. Few large
lochs are without a pair of these birds. Very common in the west,
where this species outnumbers the red-throated species ; in the north-

358 APPENDIX.

east, however, the proportions appear to be reversed. Prefers large
lochs with green islands for breeding purposes.

Red-throated Diver — Colymbus septentrionalis, Lath.

Summer visitant, but not nearly so abundant in the eastern districts as
the last-named ; getting more numerous towards the north-east and
north, where their numbers are about three to one of the last-named
species. We have received a good many eggs from the north-east,
about Strathy and Parr. Prefers mossy tarns with green edges for
nesting purposes ; rarely found breeding on islands of the larger lochs.
Is seen at times on the Dornoch Firth. Not very abundant in the
west.

Family PODICIPITID^.

Sclavonian Grebe — Podiceps auritus (Linn.)
A casual winter visitant. A bird of this species was taken in a garden
at Golspie in December 18S2. The person who caught it kept it alive
for a week on fish, but it at last died, and is uow in the Dunrobin
Museum. It occurs also in the Dornoch Firth.

Great-crested Grebe — Podiceps cristatus (Linn.)
This species has been killed by Mr. Jennins on the Dornoch Firth.

Little Grebe — Podiceps minor (Gmel.)

Resident, but not abundant on the east coast, being seen most frequently
in the winter ; they breed on Loch Brora. A favourite place in the
winter is the stream that issues from the sluices at the Mound.
Common about Dornoch, where three or four sittings of eggs can be ob-
tained annually. Breeds near Balnakeil, Durness, and at Tongue, but
rare or absent in the west. One was shot on Loch Mulach Corry, at
the base of Ben More, Assynt, a year or two previous to 1S77, the first
seen in the district by any of the native keepers or shepherds.

Obs. Red-necked Grebe — Podiceps griseigena (Bodd).
No actual record of the occurrence of this species has reached us.

LARID/E.

Family STERNIN.E.

Arctic Tern — Sterna macrura, Naumann.

Summer visitant ; common along all the eastern seaboard, breeding in
scattered colonies. Common at various points on the west and north
coasts, usually in colonies, and preferring insular positions.

Common Tern — Sterna fluviatilis, Naumann.

Summer visitant ; more usually breeding near fresh water than the
Arctic Tern. Breeds at Loch Migdale, near Bonar.

We consider the Arctic Tern the more abundant of the two species
throughout the county, but we have ourselves taken eggs of the
Common Tern on Loch Migdale. The statement that the Common
Tern is found on a small island near Handa (Proc. Glasg. Nat. Hist. Soc,
1875. J. A. II. B.) may or may not be correct ; the note made many
years ago still stands in our note-book, but we again repeat it here, as
perhaps deserving of further inquiry. We believe the Common Tern
to be much rarer on the west coast of Scotland than on the east.

APPENDIX. 359

Lesser Tern — Sterna minuta, Linn.

A rare summer visitant ; a pair visited the shore between Brora and
Kintradwell in 1871, and probably bred there ; they were also seen in
the same place in 1S77. They have not been observed in the west to
our knowledge.

Family LARIN M.

Ivory Gull — Pagophila cburnea (Phipps).

Mr. Crawford of Tongue has a specimen that was killed at Scourie in the
winter of 1879-80.

Black-headed Gull — Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Lin.)

Common, and resident on the east coast ; choosing some extremely
swampy place to breed in, inaccessible, as a rule, owing to the depth
of the surrounding mud.

Entirely absent in the west. Seen following the harrows at Durness ;
but no breeding-place known to us in the neighbourhood.

Little Gull — Chroicocephalus minutus (Pallas).

Very rare visitant. The only specimen known to us is a dried-up mummy
that was picked Tip in a cart-rut near Balnacoil in the spring of 1874.

Common Gull — Larus canus, Linn.

Resident, and abundant the whole year round on the east coast ; like the
other gulls retiring to the hill lochs to breed. Usually they breed in
colonies like the black -headed gull. Breeding numerously in the west,
in colonies, on the islands of both sea and fresh water lochs. A very
tame bird of this species was well known to anglers on Loch Awe,
Assynt, in 1S80, coming to be fed always at lunch-time.

Great Black-backed Gull — Larus marinus, Linn.

Resident, and common the whole year round on the east coast, but scarcer
in winter ; retiring to the hill lochs to breed ; rarely more than a pair
on a loch, if frequented by other gulls, and often choosing a solitary
island which they keep to themselves. Near Dornoch, however, we
understand there is a loch tenanted by a colony of these birds. Breeds
in a colony of about fifteen pairs on the summit of the Stack of Handa.
A far inland locality, where a single pair breeds, is at a loch-side near
Oykel Bridge.

Lesser Black-backed Gull — Larus fuscus, Linn.

Very common in summer, much less numerous in the winter. Breeds in
numbers about the hill lochs of the east coast, and often away from the
lochs on the flow ground. Less numerous now than ten years ago ;
and the same may be said of the species just mentioned, and also the
next in order, the herring gull, as the eggs are smashed and the young
killed on all possible occasions by the shepherds and gamekeepers, on
account of the damage they do. On some of the large flows in the centre
of the county gulls are now almost extinct, where ten years ago they
were abundant. Found generally mixing with herring gulls, where the
latter breed inland on the west, but occupying independent colonies
on the Badcall Islands, and on an island of Loch Scheanaskaig, in West
Cromarty.

Herring Gull — Larus argentatus, Gmel.
Common all the year round on the coasts ; retiring in the east inland, to
breed, where it mixes with L. fuscus, the two species nesting side by
side.

3 GO APPENDIX.

Iceland Gull — Larus leucoptcrus, Faber.
Winter visitant ; not uncommon on the east coast.

Kittiwake — Rissa tridactyla (Linn.)

A visitant only to the east coast, generally in spring.

Breeds abundantly in the west, at Handa, and on Bulgie Island ; also
on the north coast cliffs near Cape Wrath, hut not so abundantly.
There are many roosting-places unoccupied by nests, such as one on
Bulgie Island, and another on the east side of Eilean Garbh.

Family STERCORARIIN.E.

Pomatorhine Skua — Stercorarius pomatorhinus (Temm. )
Rare visitant ; four were seen at Balnacoil on the 13th of October 1870,
a year famous for the number of these birds obtained all through the
country.

Note'.— These birds appear to frequent the ocean and seas of the Outer
Hebrides in some numbers, every summer of late years. We saw them
not uncommonly west of Lewis in 18S1.

Richardson's Skua — Stercorarius crepidattos (Banks. )
Autumn visitant ; breeding in one place in the county only, as far as is
known to us ; a pair, and one pair only, coming to the same spot year
after year.

Stray examples have occurred in the west, but there are no known
breeding-sites. We have received the bird in the flesh from Handa,
but assuredly it does not breed there.

Family PROCELLARIIDJl.

Leach's Petrel— Procellaria leucorrlioa, Vieill.

A rare visitant. There is a specimen in the Dunrobin Museum that was
taken at Forsinard on January 10, 1S7V.1

Stormy Petrel — Procellaria pelagica, Linn.

Apparently a rare visitant. A specimen in the Dunrobin Museum was
taken at Scourie on the 30th of October 1S-15.

We have never found this species breeding in Sutherland, but can
scarcely believe but that it is found on the Badcall Isles, and elsewhere,
nesting (see under Starling, antea, p. 343). They breed on the Pentland
Skerries, and occur in misty or hazy weather, not infrequently at the
lighthouse lanterns of Dunnet Head and Cape Wrath.

ALC/E.

Family ALCID.E.

Razorbill — Alca tarda, Linn.

Occasional in winter and spring ; numbers thrown up dead after a storm
on the east coast, on these occasions far outnumbering the guillemots
in quantity, in about the proportion of six to one.

1 As this species breeds on North Rona, it may occasionally be expected
to occur in Sutherland. (See Mr. J. Swinburne's Notes, Proc. Ryl. Phyl.
Soc, 1883-4.)

APPENDIX. 361

Abundant on Handa and elsewhere, such as Cearvig Bay and Cliffs
of Clomore, etc., on the north coast. The annual reports of the Com-
mittee on Migration of Birds for the British Association show with
what marvellous regularity they appear at their various breeding-
stations, and then leave again in autumn, along with other rock-birds.

Common Guillemot — Lomvia troile (Linn.)

Occasional visitant on the east coast, especially in winter and spring, and
often thrown up dead after a storm.

Rock-birds breed plentifully on the Caithness side of the Ord, but
never on the Sutherland side.

When Guillemots or Razorbills are observed swimming near the
shore in winter on the east coast, they are generally, if not always,
weakly birds, and probably perish.

Exceedingly abundant on Handa ; the summit of the Stack and the
regular niched ledges of the cliffs literally swarming with life.
The bridled or ringed variety (U. lacrymans or U. ringvia) is in propor-
tion to the others as one or two in every ten or a dozen. The iden-
tity of those forms has been placed, by us, beyond doubt. The
regularity of the migration from east to west in autumn at all the
north coast lighthouses, and the dates of commencement and comple-
tion, are interesting (see Migration Reports, 1S79-1SS3).

Black Guillemot — Uria gryllc (Linn.)

A spring visitant to the east coast.

Breeds not uncommonly on the west coast, and in a colony on the
Badcall Islands. Once plentiful on Handa, now rare, if indeed present
at all, and the cause assigned for extinction by the cragsmen — the
Brothers Mathieson — is that rats have managed to dislodge them.
We have found that the males assist in incubation, having one or two
hatching spots on the breast, and these have been taken off the eggs.
They are abundant also along the north coast, west of Loch Erriboll.

Little Auk — Mcrgulus alle (Linn. )
Winter visitant, but not occurring every year.

Puffin — Fratcrcula arctica (Linn.)
Winter visitant to the east coast.

The principal colonies of these birds on the west and north are : —
Handa, about three miles of cliff and slopes east of Cearvig Bay,
occupied in many places from base to summits, which are 380 feet in
height — a marvellously fine colony — at Clochbheag, near Durness,
and scattered colonies at other points. They used to breed at Garbli
Island numerously, but are now rare there ; having been persecuted,
they have taken to the higher cliffs of Clomore and Cearvig. Rats
have also driven them off the tops at Handa into more secure crevices
in the face and slopes.

STEGAN0P0DES.

Family PELECANID^

Gannet — Sula bassana (Linn. )

An occasional visitant to the east coast ; not rare ; old birds most
abundant. The regular streams of migration of the Gannets round our
islands are worthy of attention ; flying east and north along the north
coast in spring, and flying west daily in autumn. Between 2150 and
3080 have been estimated to fly westward within view of Cape Wrath
during fifteen days noted, between 14th July and 9th August. They
pass between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. each day, in all winds and weathers.
(See Migration Report, 1879, p. 41.)

362 APPENDIX.

Cormorant — Phalacrocorax earbo (Linn.)

Common, and resident, though not breeding on the south-east coast;
some go far inland to feed.

The" principal colonies known to us are Badcall Islands, in the west —
but decreasing here fast from persecution — and a very fine colony indeed
close to Whiten Head, on " The Maiden's Rocks," and on the bold cone
of the headland itself, at a height of about 350 feet. At that distance
with binoculars the white thigh -spots were quite distinctly visible.
A man scaled the face one day and brought down a shawlful of eggs.
Rare on Handa, choosing the highest ledges, just under the summits
of the perpendicular cliffs.

Shag — Phalacrocorax graculus (Linn.)

Common, and resident all round the coasts, not venturing far inland ;
does not breed on the east coast, but does so abundantly in the caves
on the north, and in all suitable localities there. It is rarely found in
large, colonies, probably owing to the scarcity of ledges of the requisite
nature, which, to suit these birds, should overhang deep water.

FISHES OF SUTHERLAND AND THE
MORAY FIRTH.

I.

PISCES.
PAL^EICTHYES.

Order CHONDROPTERYGII.

Suborder PLAGIOSTOMATA.
Division SELACHOIDEI.

Family CARCHARIDiE.

Blue Shark — Carcharias glaucus (Linn.)
Rare ; cast ashore near Kintradwell after a storm. A specimen in the
Dunrobin Museum is dated Kintradwell, November 1871.

Common Tope — Galcus canis, Bonap.

Smooth Hound — Mustelus vulgaris, Mull and Herde.

Family LAMNIDJE.

Porbeagle — Lamna cornubica (Gmel. )
A specimen in the Dunrobin Museum is labelled Loch Inver, 1875 ; and
our fishing party caught another on a long sea-line at Loch Inver in
1881, which weighed 56 lbs.

APPENDIX. 363

Thrasher Shark — Alopecias vulpcs (Gmel.)
A whale was brought ashore near Wick, said to have been killed by a
Thrasher ; the combat was observed from the cliffs by the fishermen,
who secured the dead whale. Another specimen was taken at Fort-
rose, Ross-shire, in 1S46 (Martin).

Family SCYLLIDiE.

Small Spotted Dogfish — Scyllium canicula (Linn.)

Black-mouthed Dogfish — Pristiurus mclanostomus, Bonap.
Recorded from Banff by Edward.

Family SPINACIDiE.

Picked Dogfish — Acanthias vulgaris, Risso.

An abundant species ; often picked up dead along the shore, generally
in autumn ; very destructive to herrings in the net. Particularly
abundant on the west coast in July 1SS2.

Greenland Shark — Lcemargus borealis (Scoresby).

Reported by Mr. Peach as occurring occasionally. Recorded by Fleming
from the Pentland Firth in 1803 ; and on May 22, 1859, one 10 feet
long was found entangled on a fishing-line {vide Brown, Zool., 1860).

Spinous Shark — Echinorhinus spinosus (Gmel.)

Family RHINID^E.

Angel Fish — Rhina sqimtina (Linn.)

Mr. Peach says this species is often caught by the Buckie fishermen,
but being valueless, is thrown overboard.

Division BATOIDEI.

Family TORPEDINIDiE

Torpedo — Torpedo hebetans, Lowe.
Moray Firth, 1884.

Family RAJIDiE.

Thornback Ray — Raja clavata, Linn.

Starry Ray — Raja radiata, Donovan.

Sand Ray — Raja circularis, Couch.

Skate — Raja oatis, Linn.
Abundant all round the coasts.

Long-nosed Skate — Raja vomer, Fries.
Recorded by Edward from Banff.

364 APPENDIX.

Family TRYGONID.E.

Sting-Ray — Trygon pastinaca (Linn. )

Family MYLIOBATIDjE.
Eagle-Ray — Mylidbatis aqvdla (Linn.)

Order GANOIDEI.

Suborder CHONDROSTEI.

Family ACIPENSERID^E.

Sturgeon — Acipenser sturio, Linn.
Mr. Crawford informs us that this species occurs off the north coast of
the county, and there is a specimen in the Dunrobin Museum.

Subclass TELEOSTEI.
Order I. ACANTHOPTERYGI I.

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII PERCIFORMES.
Family PERCIDjE.

Perch — Pcrca fluviatilis (Rond. )

Mr. Houstoun of Kintradwell introduced a few of these fish into a small
pond near his house, but they do not seem to have done well.

Basse— Labrax lupus (Lacep.)
Recorded by Dr. Joass from near Golspie, and by Mr. Peach from the
Kyle of Tongue.

Family MULLID^ (Swanson).

Surmullet — Mullus barbatus, Linn.
Taken in the Moray Firth (Gordon). Day's Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 24.

Family SPARID.E (Cuv.)

Common Sea-bream— Pagcllus centrodontus, De la Roche.
Common in the Moray Firth, and were increasing in 1852. Day's Brit.
Fishes, vol. i. p. 37.

Very abundant in the sea-lochs of the west, and known by the local
name of "Bulgarian Haddie." We have caught many of these fish at
the head of Glen Coul, and also at Loch Inver. These sell in the
London market at one shilling each, but are not reckoned marketable
by the west coast fishermen, nor much esteemed as food.

ArPENDix. 365

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII COTTO-
SCOMBRIFORMES.

Family CARANGIDiE.
Horse-mackerel — Caranx trachurus (Linn.)

Boar-fish — Capros apcr (Linn.)
A specimen taken in the Moray Firth in 1852, and recorded by Gordon
in the Zool, p. 3459.

Family CYTTIDiE.

Doree — Zcusfabcr (Linn.)
Mr. Crawford mentions this fish as occurring about Tongue, and there is
a specimen in the Dunrobin Museum, taken at Brora, March 6, 18S3.

Family CORYPHANID^l.

Opah — Lampris luna (Gm. )
On the authority of Mr. Day, this fish has occurred in the Moray Firth.

Family SCOMBRID/E.

Mackerel — Scomber scomber, Linn.
Still frequents the east coast at intervals, but is much rarer than for-
merly ; apparently never such a fish of commerce as in the south of
England. Occurs also on the west and north coasts.

Tunny — Orcynus thynnus (Linn.)

Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 97, says, "In 1850 tunnies were common in
the Moray Firth ; one captured was 9 ft. long ; while another, killed
near Inverness, was 5 ft." (Gordon, Zool., 1852, p. 3459.)

"In 1883 Mr. Speedie's salmon-fishers caught a tunny in the stake-
nets at Strathy Bay ; it was about S ft. long, and in fine plump condi-
tion, but in place of having it preserved they cut it up." (Crawford, in.
lit.)

Plain Bonito — Auxis rochet (Risso).

Couch, in his Brit. Fishes, vol. ii. p. 105, speaking of this fish, says, "It
comes more rarely towards the north, although, as I am informed by
the Rev. Walter Gordon of Macduff, it has been met with in the
Moray Firth."

Family TRACHINIDJE (Risso).

Viper Weever — Tracliinus vijiera, C. & V.
Found along the sandy shores of the east coast ; taken by the seine net
at the Little Ferry.

Greater Weever — Tracliinus draco, L.

Family PEDICULATI.

The Angler — Lopliius piscatorius, Linn.
Often thrown up on the shores of the east coast after a storm.

366 APPENDIX.

Family COTTIDiE.

Short Spined Bullhead — Cottus scorpius, Linn.

A specimen in the Dunrobin Aquarium.
Father Lasher — Coitus bubalis, Euphrasen.

Common along the shores of the east coast.

River Bullhead — Cottus gobio, Linn.
Common.

Tub Fish — Trigla hirundo, Linn.

Red Gurnard — Trigla cuculus, Linn.

Streaked Gurnard — Trigla lineata, Gmel.

Gurnard — Trigla gurnardus, L.
The Crooner, as it is generally termed in Scotland, is abundant along the
east coast of Sutherland, and also in the west and north.

Piper — Trigla lyra, Linn.

Reported to us by Mr. Houstoun as common on the east coast of Suther-
land.

Family CATAPHRACTI (Muller.)

Pogge — Agonus cataphractus (Bl. Schn. )
Day, in his Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 69, says, "Gordon observed, in the
Moray Firth, in January 1S49, ten examples, from 2 to 5 inches long,
that were found in the stomach of a cod" (Zool. p. 3458).

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII GOBIIFORMES.
Family DISCOBOLI.

Livmpfish — Cyclopterus Iwnvpus (Linn.)
Common along the east coast of Sutherland, where they come close in
to shore to spawn in April. The newly hatched young of this fish
occurred very plentifully near the mouth of the Kyle of Durness last
year ; so we are informed by Mr. Peach.

Sea Snail — Liparis vulgaris, Flem.
Mr. Houstoun informs us this species is rare on the east coast of
Sutherland.

Family GOBIIDiE.

Two-spotted Goby — Gobius rutlicnsparri, Euph.
Mr. Houstoun records a goby, probably referable to this species, as
common about the rocks at Kintradwell.

Rock Goby — Gobius niger, Linn.

Dusky Sculpin — Callionymus lyra, Linn.
Recorded from the Moray Firth— Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 177.

APPENDIX. 367

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII BLENNIIFORMES.

Family BLENNIIDiE.

"Wolf-fish — Anarrhichas lupus, Linn.

According to Gordon (Zool. , 1S52, p. 3460) the fishermen in the Moray
Firth say that it (Wolf-fish) is more plentiful in March than at any
other season, and that some of them are as big as any cod, and are
good for eating. On the east coast of Sutherland Mr. Houstoun says
it is rare, generally being thrown up on the beach after a storm. The
specimen in the Dunrobin Museum is labelled " Strathsteven Beach,
February 1SS0."

Shanny — Blcnnius pholis, Linn.
Recorded from the Moray Firth by Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 205 ; and
also by Dr. Joass, Golspie. Mr. Peach found this fish on the north
coast of the county.

Yarrell's Blenny — Carelophus Ascanii (Walbaum).

One example taken in the Moray Firth in 1S39. — Day, Brit. Fishes, vol.
i. p. 207.

Butter-fish — Centronotus gunellus (Linn.)

Gordon {Zool., 1S52, p. 3460) records the Butter-fish as very common in
the Moray Firth in pools below high-water mark ; it is also mentioned
by Mr. Houstoun as occurring off the east coast of Sutherland, and by
Mr. Peach as occurring off the north coast.

Viviparous Blenny— Zoarces viviparus, Linn.

Mr. Houstoun of Kintradwell records this as a species frequently met
with in the sea-pools of the east coast, and Mr. Peach observed it on
the north coast.

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII MUGILIFORMES.

Family MUGILIDiE.

Lesser Gray Mullet — Mugil chelo (Cuv.)

Common along the shores of the east coast [of Sutherland in suitable
places.

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII GASTEROSTEI-
FORMES.

Family GASTEROSTEID^.

Three-spined Stickleback — Gasterosteus aculealus, Linn.

Common, both on the east and north coasts.

Fifteen-spined Stickleback — Gasterosteus spinachia, Linn.

According to Day, only two instances have been recorded from the Moray
Firth ; but Dr. Joass of Golspie records a specimen now in the
aquarium at Dunrobin.

368 APPENDIX.

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII GOBIESOCIFORMES.

Family GLOBIESOCIDA

Doubly-spotted Sucker — Lepadogastcr bimaculatus (Penn.)
Recorded from the Moray Firth by Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 193.

Division ACANTHOPTERYGII TJENIIFORMES.

Family TRACHYPTERID^.

Deal-fish — Trachyptcrus arcticus (Briinn).
Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 219, says, under this heading: — "1S47, one
3 feet long, at Burghead, Moray Firth (Martin) ; where Dr. Gordon
(Zool., p. 3460) alludes to the capture of two."

Banks'-oar Fish — Rcgalccus banksii (C. & V.)
In his Brit. Fishes, vol. ii. p. 260, Couch says of this fish : — " Since the
capture of the example of which we have thus given an enlarged
account, three or four others have been met with along the north
shores of the kingdom, the largest of which was obtained at Kiess, a
few miles north of Wick, and consequently not far from the extreme
north of Scotland. I am indebted for the few particulars known of it
to Mr. Peach, who informs me that it measured 15 feet in length, and,
as being much injured about the head."

Also recorded by Mr. Day from the Moray Firth in his list of fishes
of that place.

Order 2. ACANTHOPTERYGII PHARYNG06NATHI.

Family LABFJD.E.

Striped Wrasse — Labrus mixtus, Linn.

Recorded by Dr. Day from the Moray Firth, and there is a specimen in
the Dunrobin Museum, caught off there in September 1S70.

Gold-siuny — Ctenolabrus rupestris (Linn.)
A specimen taken at Dunrobin, 1876.

Baillon's ~Wva,sse—Crenilabrus melops (Linn.)

Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 263, remarks that, according to Martin, this
species is often met with in the Moray Firth, and it is recorded by Dr.
Joass as occurring in the neighbourhood of Golspie.

Ballan Wrasse — Labrus maculatus, Bl.

Mr. Houstoun informs us that this species is seen on the east coast of
Sutherland.

0rde^3. ANACANTHINI.

Division ANACANTHINI GADOIDEI.

Family GADID.E. (Cuv.)
Cod — Gadus morrhua, Linn.
Abundant all round the coast.

APPENDIX. 3G9

Haddock — Garlus ceglcfinus, Linn.
Very abundant. The Moray Firth haddocks have a great reputation for
their good flavour ; almost the staple fish on the east coast. Common
in Loch Inver Bay, and of large size.

Power — Gadus minutus, Linn.

"Abundant in the Moray Firth." (G. Harris, Zool., 1S54, p. 4261.)

Whiting — Gadus merlangus, Linn.
Abundant, but not nearly so much so as the haddock.

Coal Fish — Gadus virens, Linn.

Abundant the year round ; most commonly caught at that state of age
when they are known as "cuddies." Common on the cod-banks off the
west coast, in the adult stage, where we have caught them with the
leaden "murderer."

Pollack — Gadus pollachius, Linn.
More abundant on the west than east coast ; here it always goes under
the name of "Lythe." It seemed to us that "Lythe'' caught on the
north coast were much more powerful fish than those of the west
coast.

Hake — Merluccius vulgaris (Cuv.)
Eecorded by Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 302, as found in the Moray Firth
during July and August, following the herrings, hence probably the
common name " Herring Hake." Reported from the north coast by
Mr. Crawford, and caught by us at Loch Inver on the long sea-lines.

Ling — Molva vulgaris, Flem.

Abundant off the coast, though not so numerous as the cod. Common
at Loch Inver, and caught by us on the long sea-lines.

Five-bearded Kockling— Motella mustela (Linn. )

Three-bearded Pickling— Motella cimbria (Linn. )

Mr. Peach informs us that these two species are not uncommon in the
rock-pools near low tide.

Torsk — Brosmius brosme (Mull.)

This is a deep sea fish, rarely coming close to land, but has been caught
on the Minch by fishermen at Loch Inver. It is commoner outside
the Outer Hebrides. Is reported rare on the east coast by Dr. Joass.

Family OPHIDIID.E.

Larger Launce — Ammodytcs lanceolatus, Lesauvage.
One example of this fish is recorded from the Moray Firth, taken from
the stomach of a cod— Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. i. p. 331.

Lesser Launce — Ammodytcs tobianus, Linn.
Very common all along the east coast, especially at the sandbanks of
the little Ferry. Common at all suitable places on the west coast,
such as Clach toll Bay, at Loch Sandwood, and on the north at Balna-
keil Bay.

VOL. II. 2 B

370 APPENDIX.

Division ANACANTHINI PLEURONECTOIDEI.

PLEURONECTID^E.

Holibut — ffippoglossus vulgaris, Flem.
Abundant, being more numerous and of a larger size on the north and
west coasts. An enormous specimen was hooked by the "Murderer"
bait off Stoir Head in July 1883, but escaped after having been half into
the boat. It twisted one gaff almost straight, and carried off every
hook on the lead. We reckoned it at about 3 feet in breadth, and 5J to
6 feet long. Another, captured a little farther north in 1882, was sold
in London for £4 sterling.

Turbot — Rhombus maximus (Linn.)
Apparently not abundant, but occurs off the east coast, and is reported
by Mr. Crawford as being found also on the north and north-west coast.

Brill — Rhombus Icevis (Linn. )

Sail-fluke — Rhombus mcgastoma (Don.)
Not uncommon occasionally, Mr. Peach informs us.

Plaice — Pleuronectes platessa, Linn.
Common all round the coasts. Not held in high estimation for the table

Muller's Topknot — Rhombus punctatus, Bl.

Block's Topknot — Rhombus unimaculatus (Risso).
Both these two last species are recorded as rare by Mr. Peach.

Smear Dab — Pleuronectes microcephalics, Donov.
Eecorded from the Moray Firth by Harrison.

Dab — Pleuronectes limanda, Linn.
Common all round the coast, in suitable localities.

Craig Fluke or Pole — Pleuronectes cynoglossus, Linn.

Flounder — Pleuronectes flcsus, Linn.
Abundant ; going some distance even up the rapid rivers of the east of
the county, as the Helmsdale, but is not known to us to ascend the
rivers of the west coast.

Sole — Solea vulgaris, Quensel.
Common in the Moray Firth, and is found also on the north coast ; rare
near the east coast of Sutherland.

Lemon Sole — Solea aurantiaca, Giinth.
Mr. Peach informs us this species is not uncommon.

Order PHY80ST0MI.

Family CYPRFNIDiE.

Minnow— Leuciscus phoxinus (Linn.)
Inserted on the authority of Dr. Joass.

APPENDIX. 371

Family SCOMBROSCIDiE.

Garfish — Belone vulgaris, Flem.

Not common on the east coast of the county, as reported to us by Mr.
Houstoun ; there is a specimen in the County Museum, taken at Brora
in 1869.

Family STERNOPTYCHID^E.

Argentine — Maurolicus borealis (Nils. )
Occurs in the Pentland Firth.

[In speaking of the fresh-water fish, on which for some
years we have kept careful notes, and have made some in-
teresting experiments in the county, we will confine our re-
marks in this place to the subject of distribution and variation,
edible qualities, and sporting capabilities. There remains
still much in this branch alone to be done in the county, and
much more than we have space for here could already be
written upon them.]

Family ESOCIDiE.

Pike— Esox lucius, Linn.
Occurs at Loch Migdale, the only loch in the county where it is found.
Sheriff Mackenzie writes us he has never seen a specimen from this
loch, so the species may have died out. They were introduced at least
sixty years ago by the then Mr. Dempster of Skibo, and were caught
in Loch Achilty, in the east of Boss -shire, by Peter M'Aulay, the
keeper at Coul, for that purpose.

Family SALMONID^.

Salmon — Sahno salar, Linn.

Abundant, some years much more so than at others, the early run of
spring fish depending on the mildness or severity of the winter ; conse-
quently the years 1882-3-4 are noted for the numbers of Salmon caught
early in the season.

The rivers Naver, Brora, and Helmsdale are the three early rivers of
the county, and clean Salmon can be got in them in every month of
the year, unless November prove an exception, this being the principal
spawning month.

In the western rivers they run later, and the first heavy flood which
comes, usually about the 10th to 15th July, brings up great numbers.
A few run in May, but very few are caught at that time. In 1SS3
(July) we rose a large salmon twice in the salt water at Loch Inver
with a "silver doctor."

Sea-Trout — Sahno trutta, Flem.

Abundant ; rarely ascending the rivers before the end of May, though an
undoubtedly clean one is at times caught by the nets in February and
March.

The east coast Sea-Trout are generally much more spotted, and not
such finely shaped fish as those of the west coast. The Sea-Trout of
the northern Kyles of Durness and Tongue are famed for their firmness
and flavour, and readily take sand-eel as bait. In June and July 1883,

372 APPENDIX.

before the rains set in and the fish could ascend the rivers, many Sea-
Trout were caught in the salt water with sand-eel or small imitation
minnow at Loch Inver, where they were scarcely ever known to have
been caught before in the sea.

Common Trout — Salmofario, Linn.
So many interesting varieties come under this heading that it would
occupy too much of our space to go into particulars of each. We give
the names of these below, and from the list it will be seen that Suther-
land possesses all, or nearly all, that are known.

Scarcely a river in the east of Sutherland produces a Trout possess-
ing any edible qualities, probably from the generally stony nature of
the streams, and consequent lack of food ; but the lochs of the east
almost all contain good red -fleshed and firm trout. In the west,
amongst the limestone districts, the white-fleshed trout of the burns
are most delicious eating, and so also are the trout of many of the
lochs of Assynt, which are pink in flesh. The very dark red-fleshed
trout of Gorm lochs are flabby and "out of season" in June and July,
when ova is often found in them. We could say a great deal more in
detail, but space forbids in this place.
Varieties of Trout {Salmo fario) are as follows :—
a. Great Lake Trout, Salmo firox, Jard. and Selby. General in the larger

and deeper lochs, and even found in the shallow Loch Borrolan.
b Parr-marked Trout, S. Comubiensis, Walb. Lochan Sgearach, Reay
Forest : above a fall of some sixty feet. Specimens caught in June
18S3 ran 3 to the pound and larger. Strong and active. Parr-
marks fade after death,
c. Tidal Trout, S. estuarius, Knox. " Fossak " of Loch Inver. Ascends
rivers only a limited distance, varying in different streams. Runs
2 to 5 lbs. weight; white-fleshed; coarse, rich food, if in season.
Appears in May. Disappears in August. Strong.
d Gillarroo Trout, S. stoma.chicus, Gunth. Loch Mulach Corrie, on the
top of the Assynt limestone and base of Ben More. Doubtful if this
is separable from the Irish examples. Flesh pale pink ; delicious
eating; runs to 5 or 6 lbs. (rare) weight. Strong and active.
Another trout, or the young of this, is also found here, averaging 3
inches in length, with somewhat peculiar coloration ; not apparently
abundant. May be young of the other, but have the appearance of
adult fish.
e. Crassapuil Trout. Closely allied to S. levenensis, first described by
Dr. F. Day, from examples forwarded by us from Durness.
Other remarkable varieties occur, most of which we believe are
known to us, as well as varieties of Salmo solar, many of which inhabit
very inaccessible and rarely visited lochs. Upon this subject we will
have more to say at some future time.

In the Dunrobin Museum is a series of stretched skins of Trout,
collected by the late Mr. Young of Invershin, which are called crosses
between Trout and Salmon, etc. _

This collection might have been extremely valuable from a scientific
point of view had the information been fuller and more carefully kept.
As it is, we fear the specimens are worthless, unless any of the late
Mr. Young's manuscripts are available and could be searched.

American Brook Trout— Salmo font inalis, Agassiz(?).

Introduced some years ago by His Grace the Duke of Sutherland, most
of which were placed in Loch Brora, and a few in the Kintradwell burn ;
we doubt if many, or indeed any, of these are now left.

The Charr — Salmo alpinus, Linn.
Common in some of the lochs throughout the county, and probably

APPENDIX. 373

inhabits others where its presence is yet undetected, as the Charr
rarely takes a fly in most of the lochs, though there are exceptions, as
we have caught occasional ones in Lochs Merkland, Griam, and Shin,
and Lochs Borrolan, Urigill, Camaloch, Veyattie, Fewn, Assynt, and
Brora, with fly, and more rarely with artificial minnow.

Smelt— Osmcrus eperlanus (Flem. )
Mr. Peach informs us he has caught the Smelt when fishing for sillocks.

Family CLUPEIDiE.

Herring — Clupaa harengus, Linn.

Occurs along the east coast the whole year, but most abundant in the
summer and early autumn ; fish full of roe are taken in the early
spring, but do not appear to have the fine flavour of the autumn
Herring. Abundant on the west coast, but mostly fished from Storno-
way. Ascends the sea -lochs of Glens Dhu and Coul, especially the
latter, as well as other sea-lochs.

Sprat — Clwpea sprattus, Linn.

An irregular visitant to the east coast, though very abundant every year
lower down the. coast at the Beauly Firth. In the beginning of 1SS4
vast numbers were caught off Golspie and Brora, cpiantities being
thrown ashore dead. Not known by us to occur on the west coast.

Allis Shad — Clupea alosa, Linn.
Taken at Inversion, 1S70.

Family MURjENIDjE.

Eel — Anguilla vulgaris, Flem.

Abundant in all the rivers and lochs of the east coast. About the
middle of April the young eels, or elvers, as they are there called,
begin to ascend the Brora in millions, the sides of the river the whole
way up being black with them ; they even ascend the Blackwater Falls
at Balnacoil, by taking advantage of any damp inequalities of the
rock ; every trout caught at that time is gorged with them. They do
not appear in the rivers of the west so early in the season as they do
in the east, but by June all the lochs connecting with the Inver are
full of them.

Conger— Conger vulgaris, Cuv.

Common ; much more sought after of late years, as they command a
ready sale and fair price. Delicious eating if properly cooked. We
were present at a table d'hote where fourteen people all took a second
helping, and pronounced them "delicious."

Order V. LOPHOBRANCHII.

Family SYNGNATHIDiE.

Greater Pipe Fisli — Syngnathus acus, Linn.

Recorded by Day, Brit. Fishes, vol. ii. p. 260, as having twice been taken
from the stomach of a cod in the Moray Firth (Gordon).

374

APPENDIX.

Straight-nosed Pipe Fish — Nerophis ophiclion (Linn.)

Obs. — A Pipe Fish (sp. inc.) is recorded as not rare on the east coast of
Sutherland, by Mr. Houstoun and Dr. Joass.

Worm Pipe Fish — Nerophis lumbriciformis (Linn.)

Order VI. PLECTOGNATH I.

Family GYMNODONTES.

Sunfish — Orthagoriscus mola (Linn.)
A specimen, now in the Dunrobin Museum, was caught off Golspie, 1880.

Oblong Sunfish — Orthagoriscus truncatus (Retz).

Recorded by Edward from Banff, and in August 1S46 and October 1S50
examples were taken in the Moray Firth and at Elgin.

Sub-class CYCLOSTOMATA.

Family PETROMYZONTID^.

Lamprey — Petromyzon marinus, Linn.
Reported from the east coast of Sutherland, by Mr. Houstoun, as not rare.

Lampern — Petromyzon fluviatilis, Linn.
Recorded from the Spey and Lossie rivers by Edward, and as being
common there.

Small Lamprey — Petromyzon branchialis, Linn.
Edward records this species from the Lossie river, and from Banffshire.

Family MYXINID^.

Hog Fish — Myxine glutinosa, Linn.
Recorded from Banff by Edward.

THE END.

In One vol. demy 8vo, luith Plates, Price 8s. 6d.

THE CAPERCAILLIE IN SCOTLAND,

With some Account of the Extension of its Range since
its Restoration at Taymouth in 1837 and 1838.

By J. A. HARVIE-BROWN, F.Z.S.,

Member of the British Ornithologists' Union, &c.

"A carefully prepared and exhaustive monograph of the Caper-
caillie in Scotland, which ought to be perused by every proprietor of
an estate, forester, and naturalist in the country. Every point in its
history, nature, and habits, is collected and arranged with great skill,
up to the most recent date. The work is embellished with several
beautiful illustrations of Scotch scenery. . . ."' — Journal of Forestry.

1 ' This book was well worth writing, and Mr. Harvie-Brown has
written it well." — Zoologist.

' ' Mr. Harvie-Brown fills in the picture with extreme care : indeed,
nothing is so noticeable in his book as the minute conscientiousness
with which he has investigated every detail of the subject." — M. G.
Watkins.

"In an ingenious map, so contrived as to show how the bird has
spread from the place of its introduction in the central district of
Taymouth, I find it has now become pretty generally acclimatised all
over the country ; and the chronological account of its spread through-
out Scotland, which has been prepared by Mr. Harvie-Brown, is
exceedingly interesting, and shows, more than any other portion of
the volume, the j>ainstaking way the Author has gone about his
labours." — Bertram in Bailys Magazine.

"The medal of the second class of the Acclimatisation Society of
France was awarded for this publication — (Publication Mstorique
stir la re introduction du Grand Tetras en Ecosse) — at the twenty-
fifth annual public meeting, on the 26th May 1882.

EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS

AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

AMERICAN FIELD SPORTS. The Gun and Kod in America.

Illustrated by the best Artists. Edited by Professor Mayer. In 2 vols.

royal Svo, half morocco, gilt top. £2 : 10s. net.

" Woodcut after woodcut of fish, bird, and beast, engraved by the best
American artists, alternating with lovely ' bits ' of landscape, crowd their
pages." — Athenceum.

Notes on the Natural History of the Province of Moray.

By the late Charles St. John, Author of " Wild Sports in the Highlands."
Second Edition. In 1 vol. royal Svo, with 40 page Illustrations of Scenery
and Animal Life, Engraved by A. Durand after Sketches made by George
Keid, R.S.A., and J. Wycliffe Taylor. Also 30 Pen-and-ink Drawings
by the Author in Facsimile. Price 50s. net.

" This is a new edition of the work brought out by the friends of the late
Mr. St. John in 1863 ; but it is so handsomely and nobly printed, and enriched
with such charming illustrations, that we may consider it a new book." —
St. James's Gazette.

Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains. Diary and Nar-
rative of Travel, Sport, and Adventure, during a Journey through part of
the Hudson's Bay Company's Territories in 1S59 and 1800. By the Earl
of Southesk, K.T., F.R.G.S. 1 vol. demy Svo, with Illustrations on
Wood by Whymper. ISs.

The Roof of the World. Being the Narrative of a Journey
over the High Plateau of Tibet to the Russian Frontier, and the Oxus
Sources on Pamir. By Lieut. -Col. T. E. Gordon, C.S.I. With numerous
Illustrations. Royal Svo. 31s.

Wild Men and Wild Beasts. Adventures in Camp and
Jungle. By Lieut. -Col. Gordon Cummino. With Illustrations by Lieut. -
Col. Baigrie and others. Second Edition. Demy 4to. 24s. Also a
Cheaper Edition, with Lithographic Illustrations. Svo. 12s.

My Indian Journal. Containing descriptions of the principal
Field Sports of India, with Notes on the Natural History and Habits of
the Wild Animals of the Country. By Colonel Walter Campbell, Author
of " The Old Forest-Ranger." Svo. With Illustrations by Wolf. 16s.

Camps in the Caribbees : Adventures of a Naturalist in the
Lesser Antilles. By Frederick Ober. Illustrations. Small Svo. 12s.

John Burrough's Writings. In 5 vols. 32mo, Is. each, Re-
vised by the Author — "Winter Sunshine," "Locusts and Wild Honey,"
"Wake Robin," "Pepacton," and "Birds and Poets." Price 5s., or in
cloth, gilt top, 10s.
"These pages are fragrant with the fresh strong air of country life." —

Freeman.

Walden ; or, Life in the Woods. By H. D. Thoreau". Re-
printed from the latest American Edition. 1 vol. Small; crown Svo.
Price 6s.
" Thoreau is not much known to English readers, yet there have been few

more original thinkers on the American continent." — Newcastle Courant.

Notes and Sketches from the Wild Coasts of Nipon. With

Chapters on Cruising after Pirates in Chinese Waters. By Henry C. St.
John, Captain R.N. In 1 vol. small demy Svo. With Maps and Illustra-
tions. 12s.

"One of the most charming -books of travel that has been published for
some time." — Scotsman.

The Gallop. By E. L. Anderson. Illustrated by Instantaneous

Photography. 1 vol. Fcap. 4to. 2s. 6d.
Modern Horsemanship : a new Method of Teaching Riding and

Training by means of Pictures from the Life. By E. L. Anderson, Author

of "How to Ride and School a Horse," etc. In 1 vol. Svo. Illustrated

by 28 Instantaneous Photographs. 21s.

On Horse-Breaking. By Robert Moreton. Second Edition
Fcap. Svo. Is.

EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS, CASTLE STREET.

Q

H
CO

O

H

to

TO
CD
H

o

■a

4*

tO

In

0

cU

rH

O

>

4)

•H

to

■s

H
(U

a

-P
■A

c

iH

O
•P

05

w

O

o

«

o
w
S
<
z

w

Q

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY

Do not

Acme Library Card Pocket

Under Pat. " Ref. Index File."
Made "by LIBRARY BUREAU