222 THE BIRDS OF IONA AND MULL. 



round and round the ruin during their short stay, and so permitted to 

 breed in their inaccessible haunt unmolested by man or boy, they do 

 not add to their numbers. At the end of the season the original thirty 

 remain, neither more nor less ; and I know of no other breeding place 

 either in Iona or the opposite shores of Mull, though suitable caves and 

 cliffs abound along the coast. The colony of jackdaws is a feature so 

 connected with the tower that I have never seen a sketch of Iona 

 Cathedral in which the artist has omitted to represent the flock issuing 

 from its summit in a string. 



Their common name with us is Corraclian, from Corrach — a cliff; 

 though Armstrong only gives Cottiay (Ca' ag) — a name derived from 

 its cry. 



The Rook. 



Is a winter visitant only to the islands, though it then comes in 

 flocks, which remain for some time. Shepherds have assured me 

 that though they would come day by day to feed in Iona, they 

 never stopped the night, but recrossed the Sound to roost in Mull, 

 though there are no trees even there within reach. Certainly I have 

 continually met them at dusk flying low over the sea towards the 

 precipitous shores which bound the southern shores of Mull. There 

 are several rookeries on the mainland. One, for instance, at Achan- 

 dorrach, Mr A. Campbell's residence, close to Lochgilphead ; another 

 on the opposite shores of Cowal. The inhabitants often cross over to 

 feed in winter, but invariably return at night, and whenever I have 

 been belated on the water shooting wild fowl, I have met them stream- 

 ing home in small parties flying close above the boat, and have often 

 nearly led me into tiring into them by mistake. 



The Magpie. 



Is well known on the mainland, but a very unusual straggler on 

 our islands. 



The Chough or Red-legged Ckow. 



This is by far the most beautiful of all the tribe, as lively as the 

 jackdaw, but far more elegantly shaped, and more graceful in his 

 movements ; his plumage, though as black as the blackest of the crows, 

 shines as brilliant as burnished steel, with blue and purple reflections, 

 and on the neck and body is of a soft silky texture ; his legs and long 



