CHAPTER XXXII 



SPRING IN -THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS 

 I. — MARCH 



March came in this year with bitter cold, carried down by 

 a strong north-easter. Even on the sea-girt islands the 

 ground was frost-bound, and the lochans, even where full 

 open to the wind, were frozen across. Below the snow-line 

 the heather and hill grasses were remarkably dry, and heather 

 fires, some of great extent, were everywhere to be seen. 



On March 9 a raven's nest in a small east-facing rock 

 was visited. The birds w^ere in possession, but I do not 

 think any eggs had been laid. The ravens sailed round, 

 flying so close as almost to touch one another. One of 

 them called frequently in a high note, resembling more the 

 call of a full-grown young raven than the usual deep croak 

 of the adult bird. On March 18 a raven's nest, built in 

 a cliff only a few yards from high-water mark, contained 

 no fewer than seven eggs, and the nest referred to in the 

 first instance also contained eggs at this time. 



The common gull, though found along the western sea- 

 board through the winter, is largely a summer visitor, in 

 that those birds breeding along the West of Scotland spend 

 the winter in more southern latitudes. These birds arrive 

 in large companies, and for some weeks keep together, haunt- 

 ing the ploughed fields in the vicinity of the sea lochs and 

 following the plough, before withdrawing to the isolated islets 

 where they nest. On March 17 I saw the gulls for the first 

 time, and their loud cries as they wheeled together over the 

 land like a shower of driven snow, were good to hear after 

 the winter's quiet. It is not until the early days of May 



184 



