212 A PTARMIGAN DAY. 



always excepting shepherds, few of the natives 

 have seen, and some never even heard of, such a 

 bird. 



" Ptarmigan ground " is therefore a most appro- 

 priate title for the magnificent cluster of moun- 

 tains at the head of Loch Lomond, where every 

 bald and rugged peak, capped with snow or 

 shrouded in mist for half the year, has always 

 nevertheless a scanty sprinkling of these lovers of 

 desolation and contemners of the storm. 



In these regions the very valleys and thorough- 

 fares are lonesome and dreary; and despite the 

 crowd of summer tourists that throng its banks, 

 the otter fearlessly threads the Falloch when 

 travelling between Lochs Lomond and Dochart. 

 Sometimes, when watching the twilight flight of 

 ducks, I have been startled by his peculiarly 

 modulated whistle in the still bends of the river ; 

 and a detached rock close to the highway is 

 known as the " otter's inn," from his resting a day 

 there when changing his fishing-quarters. 



The numerous detached heaps of rock and 

 stone scattered along the hillsides, or grouped in 

 fantastic outline on the brow, are each occupied 



