25 



before us the broad shingly expanse of river-bed, great 

 tracts of pebbly beach — sand and gravel ; chequered here 

 and there with straggling patches of stunted whin and 

 grass, and many a trace of flood-swept debris. The swift 

 Spey brawled through this, now gleaming with the fitful- 

 ness of a diamond's glitter, and again sulking into indigo 

 pools as " dauds o' licht noos an' thans glintet upon the 

 water." None could have been other than struck with 

 such bold and vivid contrasts ; but to me, besides all these 

 charms, every twist and twine of that river, every expanse 

 of " scaup," every patch of stunted whin, was associated 

 with days of thorough irresponsibility. It is wonderful 

 how much of the poacher pervades youth, and I think it 

 is just the excitement of being a little wicked that 

 frequently leads boys to that keen interest in their 

 surroundings which they often manifest, and more espe- 

 cially in nature. The district we were now looking at is 

 by far the richest in the North from an ornithological 

 point of view. Apart altogether from birds common to 

 our district generally, numerous sea birds and other 

 strangers of great rarity and beauty frequent and 

 nest here. I do not intend to give a tedious list of them 

 all, but I should like much to mention the rarer varieties 

 I have myself met with, and in doing so I shall give them 

 as they are met with in the three distinct localities lying 

 before us. 



Upon the shingly " scaup " between the water edge and 

 the stunted furze which marks the occasional flood-line of 

 the river, we have the resort of the oyster catcher 

 unmistakeable in his black cut-away-coat, white vest, and 

 red nose; the redshank, greenshank, sandlark, or plover; 

 the ringplover, tern, arctic tern, and lesser tern, the three 

 last of all sea-birds being the most beautiful and fairy- 

 like in size and mode of flight. 



