-,6o ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



trasted ^vith mossy rocks and gliding streams, may 

 be seen to the truest advantage. 



I remember well a loch amidst the Sutherland 

 hills, where the waters suddenly descended from an 

 immense height into a dark ravine. In the deeps 

 below, rising sheer from the foam, was a slender 

 pinnacle of rock, and upon its narrow summit, 

 vegetation had taken a precarious hold to form a tiny 

 green oasis in a wilderness of black frowning cliff 

 and leaping spray. As one gazed from the heathery 

 ledges above, a Grey Wagtail, a mere streak of 

 saffron-yellow, flitted across the abyss, and rising, 

 alighted upon the little spot of green. There it 

 remained, with gently fanning tail, within a few 

 feet of the cataract, its small voice drowned in the 

 ceaseless roar, the single living thing, beautiful 

 and fearless, in the whole scene of desolation. 



