44^ Birds of the Great Glen. [Sess. 



coarse and rough looking, but not so the interior, which is 

 warmly lined with feathers, wool, and other soft substances, 

 forming a marked contrast in this respect to the dwelling of 

 its congener the rook, who seems not to have so much notion 

 of personal comfort as his friend with the grey jacket. I 

 sometimes think, though it may be imagination, that this bird 

 fabricates the outside of its nest so as to give it the appearance 

 of being an old and disused structure. At least I have often 

 been deceived into believing the same to be deserted, when 

 shortly after, on passing the spot again, the bird has flown 

 off. The number of eggs is usually four, and sometimes 

 no two of them are of the same shape, some being conical, 

 and others short and thick. Although tliere is now no 

 rookery in Glen Urquhart, those birds are exceedingly 

 numerous, and apparently come from the Beauly district, 

 where there are several colonies. 



The jackdaw or kae, to give it its Lowland Scotch appella- 

 tion, inhabits one of the wildest gorges in Abriachan, about 

 which a few words may be said at this juncture. The road 

 from Inverness runs through this locality, skirting the shore 

 of Loch ISTess, now rising, now falling, according as the en- 

 gineers had to cope with the inequalities of tlie ground, and 

 forming one of the most lovely and romantic highways of 

 which the Highlands can boast. At some parts the hills are 

 covered with natural wood — birch, hazel, gean, bird-cherry, holly, 

 &c. ; while at others, immense masses of broken rock lie piled 

 one upon another, and threaten at every moment to tumble 

 down upon the passer-by. Numerous burns tear down the 

 declivity, and in course of ages have formed deep gullies, a 

 description of one of which will suffice for all. About four 

 miles from the entrance to Glen Urquhart proper, there is a 

 narrow ravine that ascends for about 1800 feet, only to cul- 

 minate in a deep wild gorge, the sides of which are as perpendi- 

 cular as the walls of a house, and apparently, to form a guess, 

 about 200 feet in height. A noisy waterfall plunges from 

 the more level ground above into this dark hole, and you can 

 hear the waters churning and chafing below amidst an accum- 

 ulation of fallen dihris, loosened by rain and storm from the 

 sides of the precipice. In the clefts of the rock a few trees 

 struggle for existence, while in crevices graceful ferns and 



