ii2 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



the mud brought down by the current, when the 

 volume was much larger. 



The three bear quite distinct wild flowers. 

 Though directly facing the rude sea, the cliffs have 

 still many ledges ; and niches so cunningly placed 

 as to be shut in from almost every wind. There 

 they gather a comparatively rich soil out of their 

 own decay, on to which seeds fall. In this way 

 are formed little gardens, often of rare forms, 

 worth risking one's neck to see. 



The moor is open from end to end to every 

 wind that blows. There are no corners formed by 

 jutting points, where delicate wild flowers can hide. 

 So much is included in the very conception of a 

 moor not in the sportsman sense of a shooting 

 ground, but in that of a flat expanse, laid down 

 under such conditions as to make it interesting 

 to the artist, the naturalist, and the wild bird. 



Still, by reason of the darker deposit among the 

 sand, it not only affords richer food, but also 

 retains more moisture. And there are generally 

 marshy spots to add to the interest, and still 

 further to vary its plant as well as its animal life. 



Examples occur, all in a row, a somewhat 

 unusual sequence, on the East Coast, south of 

 Lunan Bay. Cliffs run along almost to Arbroath, 



