OBSERVATIONS. 



325 



common in Scotland — and in the 

 Hebrides are several of their breed- 

 ing places. — E. Foxion - Firby, 

 F.A.S.L., F.E.S., Loc. Sec. A.S.L., 

 etc., Grewelthorpe, Ripon. 



Scottish Summits. — No. III. 



(Ben Voirlicii.) 

 July 14t.h, 1864. My next climb 

 was Ben Voirlich, at the head of 

 Loch Lomond. Height 3,100 feet. 

 Here again we have the mica-slate 

 formation, with veins of intersecthig 

 quartz. I followed in the track 

 traced out by Professor Balfour, 

 who had ascended this mountain 

 with his botany-class some years 

 previously. Crossing the lake im- 

 mediately opposite Inversnaid, I 

 skirted the stream till I came to 

 Loch Sloy, where the ascent begins. 

 Loch Sloy is not so much fished as 

 the other Lakes, it offers conse- 

 quently good sport to the angler, if 

 he will be satisfied with small-sized 

 fish, for the trout are generally 

 small. It is a wild, lonely gorge, a 

 favourite resort of the raven, which 

 here croaks in security. During 

 my ascent of Ben Voirlich, I made 

 acquaintance with the Red and Black 

 Grouse and the Ptarmigan, each occu- 

 pying its own belt on the mountain. 

 They would all seem to be common 

 to most of the mountain ranges 

 around the Lake. I saw my old 

 friends among the Alpine plants, a 

 stranger occasionally putting in an 



appearance. Among those not pre- 

 viously noticed, was the Alpine rue, 

 {Thallrtriim alpimim) a pretty little 

 plant with shining deep-green leaves, 

 and a spike of tiny white flowers. 

 I found it growing amongst the 

 grass, and clustering around the 

 springs and rivulets. Occasionally 

 in the crevices of the rock there was 

 the Alpine hawkweed, {Hieraciiim 

 alpinum) growing like so many of 

 its kindred of the plains in the 

 driest spots. I had a good oppor- 

 tunity, by the aid of my field-glass, 

 of studying the habits and plumage 

 of a young cuckoo, which had been 

 hatched by the titlark. I could not 

 ascertain whether both birds fed the 

 foster-child. I think they did. It 

 was very eager for its food, uttering 

 incessantly a little impatient note, 

 like that of the young robin. The 

 titlark had to stand on tip-toe to 

 feed her nursling. Its plumage 

 was brown, and the bars of the 

 feathers on the back were darkly 

 defined. At a lower altitude than 

 GnaphaUum supimnn, grew G. dioi- 

 cum, with its lovely rose-coloured 

 everlasting flowers and white under- 

 foliage. The Bladder fern fCystop' 

 teris fragilis) was there in all its 

 varieties, and they are not a few. 

 On the topmost cairn, the lonely 

 Wheatear was sitting as sentinel, 

 uttering his harsh notes, the only 

 sound that broke the silence of the 

 solitary summit. All round the 



