476 PRACTICAL ORNITHOLOGY. 



and the horizon is bounded by the snow-clad mountains of 

 Ross-shire, among which is conspicuously preeminent the mas- 

 sive Benwyvis. The influence of the sea air is perceptible as 

 Ave approach Inverness : the ground is clear of snow, the small 

 birds become numerous, flocks of Fieldfares are met with, 

 and vegetation is awakening to life. 



Leaving Inverness, we pass along the Beauly Frith, of which 

 the shores are low and cultivated. On it are seen various spe- 

 cies of birds : — A large flock of Geese, probably the Brent, 

 Anser Bernicla ; the Golden-eye, the Mallard, the Long-tailed 

 Duck, the Common and Black-headed Gull in large flocks, the 

 Black-backed Gull, and the Redshank. Rooks became very 

 abundant, and Lapwings plentiful, especially on the plain at the 

 top of the frith, which is bounded by hills covered with plan- 

 tations and cultivated fields, succeeded by higher eminences, 

 until the view^ is terminated by the lofty snow-clad mountains 

 that bound the horizon. 



From Beauly to Dingwall, over the low, partially cultivated 

 Black Isle, on which the juniper generally usurps the place of 

 the furze and broom of the south, there were seen only the com- 

 mon land birds, including the Hooded Crow ; nor did any 

 other occur until, in the evening, while examining the shores 

 of Alness Bay, on the Cromarty Frith, I observed great num- 

 bers of Ducks, Lapwings, and Ringed Plovers. 



Next day, having taken a boat from Invergordon, I proceed- 

 ed to the Sutors of Cromarty, two steep rocks or headlands 

 between which is the narrow and deep channel by which the 

 w^aters of the frith communicate with the ocean. But first let 

 us take a general view of this beautiful estuary, and ascend 

 an eminence behind the ancient tow^n of Dingwall, in a lovely 

 summer morning, such as that, in July 1821, on w^hich I first 

 saw it. On the left hand is the entrance to the valley of Strath- 

 peifer, beyond which are rounded hills, rising gradually toward 

 the north, and surmounted by Benwyvis. Their flanks are co- 

 vered with wood, the thin haze floats along their sides, and 

 toward the east they slope into a cultivated plain that ex- 

 tends toward the sea. Here on the right enters the Conon, a 

 river of considerable size ; you see it winding among banks 



