82 TOUR IN SUTHERLANDSHIRE. 



C H A P T E K IX. 



List continued Game birds ; Destruction of by Shepherds Plovers Sand- 

 pipers and Snipes, &c. Waterfowl : Swans, Geese, varieties of Ducks, 

 Grebes, Terns, Gulls, &c. Decrease of many kinds of birds Egg Dealers. 



THE next class of birds inhabiting Sutherlandshire that I will 

 enumerate are those more immediately coming under the 

 denomination of game. 



84. First among which is the Blackcock, certainly the 

 finest game bird of Britain. In the numerous and extensive 

 plantations of the Duke of Sutherland this bird abounds, and 

 extends throughout the county wherever it has the least pro- 

 tection from vermin and shepherds, and wherever there are 

 any patches of wood. I saw several near the shore of Loch 

 Laighal. It is, however, a bird easily destroyed. The shep- 

 herds and their boys generally carry guns, under the excuse 

 of shooting foxes (which they never do), and in consequence 

 black game and everything that is eatable fall a prey to these 

 men at all seasons of the year, whilst grey crows and other 

 destructive birds pass by unharmed. 



85. Grouse of course abound only where vermin are kept 

 under. In the north and north-west districts of the county, 

 excepting in one or two small districts, grouse are rare 

 indeed. In Assynt, where a clever keeper and trapper is 

 kept, these birds have increased rapidly within a few years. 

 The Duke of Sutherland, I believe, only preserves that part 

 of the country nearer to Dunrobin, and which is within reach 

 of his friends. Even if all his immense territory were pre- 

 served and protected from vermin, &c., a great part of it, 

 from its distance, would be useless as shooting-ground. No 

 bird is handsomer or more game-like than a cock grouse in 

 the spring time, as he struts and crows with erect comb on 

 some hillock, scarcely taking notice of the passer-by. 



86. The Ptarmigan is tolerably numerous on the more 

 lofty ranges of mountains, such as Ben Hee, Ben Cleebrick, 

 Ben Laighal, and many others, the summits of which this 

 bird frequents, seldom coming down to the heather, but 

 living, a true child of the mist, above all vegetation, amongst 

 the rocks and loose stones. The Ptarmigan requires protec- 

 tion as well as the grouse, more particularly from shepherds 

 and their boys. 



87. The Common Pheasant is nowhere abundant in 

 Sutherland ; in the lower districts, near Dunrobin, there are 



