78 The Birds of Bute and Arran, [Sess, 
IV.—THE BIRDS OF BUTE AND ARRAN. 
By Mr ARCHIBALD CRAIG. 
(Read Jan. 24, 1900.) 
Ir is no part of my present purpose to give anything like a 
lengthened description of the scenery or topography of those 
well-known islands, Bute and Arran; in all likelihood most of 
you are familiar with them already. In general appearance, 
contour, &c., there is a marked contrast between the two: 
Bute, save at the north end, where the mountains rise steeply 
from the shores of the narrow and beautiful strait known as 
the Kyles, is, compared with the sister island, lowland in its 
aspect. The bulk of the country is undulating, none of the 
hills being of great height, and almost all the available ground 
is under cultivation or pasture. The production of milk and 
butter is the staple industry, and, in a word, one might almost 
characterise the island as a huge dairy farm. Some parts are 
well, even richly, wooded, and give shelter to a considerable 
variety of small birds, but of those more anon. To the anti- 
quarian Bute will always be a place of interest, for its ancient 
chapels, stone circles, and other relics of the past. 
Arran, again, is totally different, being a typical Highland 
district, with, particularly in the north, a magnificent chain of 
rugged and precipitous mountains, intersected with wild and 
lonely glens without a trace of human habitation. It would 
hardly be possible to conceive of a more desolate and weird- 
like locality than the head of Glen Rosa or the upper parts of 
Glen Sannox ; even the feathered tribe seem to shun the spot, 
as, with the exception of an odd raven now and then and a 
few meadow pipits, hardly any bird life is to be observed. 
Save about Brodick, where there is a wealth of fine wood, the 
other parts of Arran, more especially the southern end, are, com- 
paratively speaking, bare, and the scenery of the latter district 
is not nearly so fine nor romantic. One marked feature of 
difference between Arran and many other Highland districts is 
the almost total absence in the former of lochs, such as do exist 
being mere tarns. In Bute, again,ithere are several sheets of 
water—Loch Fad, for example, behind the town of Rothesay, 
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