68 TOUR IN SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 



On looking at it with a glass, we saw one old bird sitting, 

 not standing, on the nest, and yet on Dunbar's swimming out 

 to it lie found no egg in the nest, which was exactly in the 

 same state as when we left it three or four weeks ago ; both 

 birds, too, continued sailing and screaming over our heads, as 

 if they had eggs or young ones to defend. This nest, like 

 the last three that we had seen, was built on the same kind 

 of conical rock, standing out of the waters of the lake ; in- 

 deed all the lakes where this singularly shaped rock was to 

 be seen, there also was the osprey's nest, and there it had 

 apparently been for many a long year, as was clearly shown 

 by one of the lochs being known by the old people only 

 under the name of the loch of the " Eagle Fisher." The 

 ospreys on their arrival in this country seem to seek out 

 these rocks in the wild solitudes, and on these and these 

 alone do they build. Trusting to their isolated and lonely 

 situation for safety, these interesting birds hold undisputed 

 sway over their watery kingdom. I could not help being re- 

 minded of a couple of lines which I fell in with, that seem 

 a propos to this instinct of the osprey which leads her to find 

 out and take possession of all the rocks of this particular 

 shape that are to be found in the lochs of Sutherland : 



Ni fallat fatum Scaii quocunque locatum 

 lavement Lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem. 



I cannot remember whom I quote from. 



We drove again through the magnificently wild country 

 which intervenes between Kyleska and Inchriadamph. 

 Above the shoulder of the mountain, which stands con- 

 spicuously in front of the inn, a golden eagle was hunting. 

 The distance at which this bird can see her prey has often 

 been talked of, but I never saw her power in this respect so 

 fully displayed as on this occasion. The eagle was hovering 

 so high in the air that she looked like a speck, when suddenly 

 she distinguished a grouse on the heather, even at that 

 immense distance. The height was too great to make a 

 direct swoop, so the noble bird, instead of coming down 

 straight at the grouse, almost closed her wings, and wheeled 

 with rapid circles downwards from her first height, till she 

 was within a more moderate distance from the ground. The 

 grouse seemed then "to have hidden itself, for the eagle re- 

 mained hovering for a few minutes, turning her head in 

 every direction as if she had lost sight of her victim ; when 



