124 THF CRAIG OF AILSA. 



to draw the line in the assortment spread before him ; but I made no distinction, 

 just taking them as thej came, as I did with all the 8eafowl at the Craig, 

 some of which were certainly more palatable than others; and this fishy glutton, 

 the Cormorant, would have followed in the course, but having on one occasion 

 taken some young ones from their nest during a hot summer day, I was so 

 disgusted with the effluvia proceeding from them that I have never since had 

 the courage to fiice one at a table. 



A. gentleman with whom I am intimately acquainted, informed me that 

 about forty years since, he shot and cooked one on his own account, and so 

 prodigious was the flavour, that he is inclined to believe he feels the taste 

 of it still. I do not guarantee this, but this same gentleman, about two months 

 ago, shot several fine specimens in the West Highlands, which he brought 

 home along with him, and complimented as an equivalent for some Widgeon 

 which he had promised, but as the formation of their bills could never have 

 borne him out in this compliment he defaced the enemy, by cutting them 

 short and flattening them, and he had little doubt, as he told me, that the 

 aroma, during the process of either stewing or roasting, would make the 

 old cook's hair curl. I have merely made these last observations to show 

 that we can, with perfect safety, prepare every animal for food, with the 

 exception, probably, of one or two species of the tropical fish, which it is 

 well to avoid at certain seasons of the year. The variety of material sold 

 for this purpose in the French markets of Lousiana, sufficiently bear me out 

 in this statement. 



Before laying down this paper I will enumerate what is to be found roosting 

 upon the Craig, and by visiting it about the beginning of June, which I 

 would recommend in preference to any other season, you will find the Solan 

 GoosCj (Sula Bassana,) Razor-bill, {Aha torda,) Guillemot, (Uria troile,) 

 Puffin, (Fratercula arctica,) Cormorant, {Phalacracorax graculus,) Lesser 

 Black Sea-Gull, (Larus fuscus,) Silvery Gull, (Lams argentatus,) Kittywake 

 Gull, (Larus Rissa,) Stormy Petrel, {Thalassidroma pelagica.) — These constitute 

 the swimmers. 



Peregrine P'alcon, {Falco peregrinus,) Kestrel, {Falco tlnnunculus,) Short-eared 

 Owl, (Ulula Brachyotus,) Raven, (Corvus corax,) Carrion Crow, (Corvus comix,) 

 Cornrail, (Crex pratensis,) Cuckoo, (Cuculus canorus,) Blackbird, (Merula 

 vulgaris,) Thrush, (Merula musica;) the nest and eggs of which I have 

 found there at an altitude of six hundred feet. Yellow Hammer, (Eviberiza 

 citrinella,) Rock Pipit, (Anthus aquaticus,) Robin, (Erythaca rubecula,) Wren, 

 (Troglodytes Europoeus.) — The foregoing birds are regularly in the habit of 

 breeding there, and so was the Eagle, (Aqnila chrgsaHtos,) which occupied a 

 clifi" on the north-western precipice till within the last five years; he continues, 

 however, to visit it occasionally, remaining about three weeks in October, and 

 appears entirely to subsist during that period upon the entrails of Rabbits, 

 which are plentifully strewn over the Craig, at that season, by men employed 

 in killing them. 



