HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



107 



every variety of wader. The lakes and rivers, 

 teeming as they are with fish, invite to their rippling 

 surface crowds of hungry water-birds. It would be 

 safe to assert that we have quite a hundred and thirty 

 different kinds of birds, which stay with or visit us 

 during the course of the year. 



The golden eagle can sometimes be seen, either 

 hovering over some doomed hare, or circling round 

 and round on the look out for a victim, to satisfy its 

 appetite. A pair of these birds build every year on a 

 tree near Invermoriston ; but they are strictly 

 preserved, or their eggs would soon fall into the 

 hands of some naturalist. But these birds can only be 

 seen among the hills, as they seldom venture near the 

 more cultivated ground in the valleys. The bold 

 peregrine is the largest of our falcons. I once saw a 

 very interesting battle between a couple of these 

 warriors and a golden eagle. It lasted for upwards 

 of an hour, but, unfortunately, I was not able to see 

 the end of the battle, as the combatants went over 

 the neighbouring mountains. There are three nesting 

 places of this bird known — one of them not more 

 than a mile from the village of Fort Augustus. A 

 pair of merlins used to live here, but they have 

 recently been shot by some keeper. Sparrow-hawks 

 and kestrels are also seen — the latter in great 

 abundance, for there are no less than ten nests in the 

 neighbourhood of the village. The pretty osprey, or 

 fishing hawk, is among our many visitors in the spring. 

 It formerly laid its eggs along the side of Loch 

 Ness, on a tree jutting over a precipice, but even in 

 this secure position its eggs were taken, so it was 

 obliged to shift its quarters, and it is not known for 

 certain where it builds at present. 



Finches, buntings and other species of little birds 

 are fairly numerous, chaffinches and yellow-hammers 

 being about the commonest. The pretty little siskin 

 has been shot here more than once, but it is 

 considered a very rare bird. A great grey shrike was 

 shot by one of the boys of our college in the act of 

 eating a redpole. The nest and eggs of a red -backed 

 shrike were found some years ago. We have very 

 few birds belonging to the swallow family. The 

 sand martin, certainly, cannot be called rare, but 

 both the swallow and the house martin are very 

 scarce. Swifts are also decidedly rare. House 

 martins and swallows used frequently to be met with, 

 building in great numbers under the eaves of the 

 college tower, but of late they have quite deserted us. 

 I have only seen one nightjar, and have not heard 

 of the nest or eggs having been discovered. Cross- 

 bills come over in large flocks, during the month of 

 July, and a few pairs are often seen about April or 

 May, but they are usually shot down and not given a 

 chance to breed. Thrushes, ring-ousels, dippers, wheat- 

 ears, and others of this family are in great numbers 

 during the spring and summer. The plantations are 

 inhabited by flocks of tits and golden-crested wrens. 



The Corvidae family are exceedingly numerous, 



especially the little jackdaw, which builds in the 

 rabbit holes on a precipitous cliff", surmounted by an 

 ancient vitrified fort. Hooded crows are by no 

 means rare : they live along the birch-covered hills, 

 and a keeper once told me that he destroyed about 

 forty nests belonging to this bird, during one season, 

 in his own district. Rooks and crows are not so 

 numerous as in other places. The bold raven, how- 

 ever, is a resident in the district. There are three 

 nesting places, but they are all among the hills, as 

 this bird is very shy and likes to make its home as 

 far as possible from the haunts of men. 



There are three different kinds of grouse here, 

 namely the red and black grouse and the ptarmigan. 

 The two first live on the extensive moors on the 

 mountain sides, while the last can only be found on 

 the tops of the highest hills. Corriearrick, on the 

 road to Kingussie, about ten miles off, is the best 

 place to see them, and their eggs have been dis- 

 covered there. They can only be visited in the 

 summer, as the place is inaccessible in winter, on 

 account of the snow, so the birds are not seen in the 

 best of their plumage. 



The only kind of pigeon we possess is the wood 

 pigeon, or ring-dove. These are found in countless 

 numbers among the wooded glens, and thence they 

 come in flocks to the cornfields, from which each 

 carries away its cropful of corn. 



The waders are most numerous in the seasons of 

 spring and summer. During the month of March, 

 our sw^amps are filled with plovers, snipe, and curlews, 

 splashing about in the shallow waters and pushing 

 their long beaks into the soft mud in search of food. 

 Thence they make their way to their respective 

 nesting places. The plovers select the marshy spots 

 among the hills ; the snipe fly to the rushes, which 

 fringe the edges of the neighbouring lakes ; while 

 the curlews live on the open moors, whence their 

 shrill whistle may constantly be heard. A very fair 

 heronry exists on one of the islands in Loch Knockie, 

 about eight miles from Fort Augustus. The large 

 nests can be seen nearly half a mile off. While you 

 are on the island, the herons fly distractedly over- 

 head, supported on their mighty wings and looking 

 rather awkward with their long necks and legs. 

 The golden plover, and the red and greenshanks can 

 be seen only on the high lakes, among the mountains, 

 where they breed. Sandpipers are most plentiful 

 along the banks of the lakes and rivers. The hand- 

 some sea-pie, or oyster-catcher, arrives here, with its 

 other companions, in the spring. There is only one 

 place where it is known to breed, and that is about a 

 mile and a half up the canal, near CuUochy Locks. 

 The pretty moor-hen, with its red and yellow beak 

 and long green legs, stays with us the whole year 

 round, sometimes having the swamps all to itself. 



The water-birds are fairly numerous, owing to the 

 quantity of rivers and lakes in the district. The 

 black-throated diver is one of the largest of these. 



