A PTARMIGAN DAY. 217 



They then become extremely fat, and my boys 

 trapped two in October covered with lard like 

 pork. One of them being a very large male, with 

 bright silvery hair, I had him preserved for our 

 collection. After the second capture I put an 

 end to the raid on the harmless brocks. 



The great abundance of blue hares, which form 

 the chief food of the foxes, frequently allures a 

 pair of golden eagles from the opposite hills of 

 Corrynge. They are the only ones of this district, 

 and always choose for their eyrie some one or 

 other of the cliffs between Glenfalloch and Bal- 

 quhidder. The quietness and extent of the hunt- 

 ing-ground have also emboldened the peregrine to 

 build yearly on the confines, while a male hen- 

 harrier constantly swept over the heather during 

 the last year of my lease. 



Such are the wild fauna prowling over the 

 rugged frontier of the Glenfalloch shootings, the 

 background being filled up by the ptarmigan 

 hills. They are four in number Ben Duchray, 

 Ben Oss, Ben Loy, and Ben Achly. The two 

 centre ones are the "surest find," and generally 

 have one or two packs of white grouse every good 



