WIDGEON IN LOCH SPYNIE. Ill 



be about the best loch in the North for wild-fowl shooting. 

 Its situation is excellent ; and being for the most part shal- 

 low, and covered with grass, rushes, and tall reeds, it is per- 

 fectly adapted in every way for sheltering and breeding all 

 sorts of wild-fowl ; they resort there in incredible numbers, 

 and of every kind, from the swan to the teal. When, in the 

 evening, we took up position near the old potatoe fields, we 

 generally killed several mallards, as they feed constantly on 

 these roots. 



The widgeon in this loch are remarkably fine, arid seem to 

 come early into good plumage. There would appear to be a 

 great proportion of drakes in the nocks of these birds, as out 

 of ten widgeon killed there was only one duck. The flight 

 of the widgeon in the evening, as they leave the deeper parts 

 of the lake for the grassy margin, is very amusing. AVhen 

 the}' first rise, and before we can see them, we hear their 

 peculiar whistle ; and they almost immediately appear flying 

 in small companies with great swiftness to their destination. 

 This whistling sound, which they utter during their flight, is 

 quite different from their cry while swimming and playing 

 on the water. It requires a very quick eye and a good 

 retriever to bag many birds in this twilight shooting; but 

 Captain dimming, alone, killed fourteen mallards and a 

 widgeon one evening while I was there. This was excellent 

 work, considering that it was only for a short time during the 

 dusk that he could shoot, that they were all single shots, and 

 that every bird had to be retrieved out of water overgrown 

 with rushes, &c. The widgeon have already began to fly in 

 pairs. 



In the middle of February the peewits begin to appear 

 here. The exact day depends chiefly on the state of the 

 weather : the first break up of the snow and ice generally 

 brings them. About the same time I hear the coo of the 

 wood-pigeons, who now come near the house for protection. 

 This they do every year as the breeding season approaches. 



Three otters are frequenting the mouth of the river, ap- 

 parently fishing for the flounders left in the pools near the 

 sea. The keeper is pretty sure of catching them by putting 

 traps at the places where they leave the water on their way 

 up the stream after fishing. Whilst going down the .otter 

 seldom leaves the water at all ; but unintermittingly fishes 

 his way to the sea : coming up, he takes the land at all the 

 rapids and strong streams. Two rather singular and yet 



