PIS C A TOR AND VENATOR 1S5 



ubiquitous dipper gives his jerky skirt-dancing per- 

 formance. Occasionally one may still see the king- 

 fisher, even in the Highlands, dart away like a bar of 

 living turquoise ; the merganser convoys her numerous 

 progeny up the pool ; even that inveterate poacher, 

 the otter, shy though he be, occasionally permits me 

 to get a glimpse at his movements ; or the roe stands 

 to stare from some opening among the birches, while 

 far above tower the mist-capped peaks not less pictur- 

 esque from below than when distance no longer lends 

 enchantment to the view. 



Taking next the element of weather, Lochiel con- 

 tends that as regards the comfort or discomfort ot 

 pursuing any particular form of sport in bad weather, 

 there is not much to choose. Here I again cannot 

 agree with him. I do not doubt ' from his high 

 authority, confirmed as it is by my own slight experi- 

 ence, that more deer are likely to be killed on a wet, 

 stormy day than upon a fine one ; but it requires 

 youth and enthusiasm to enjoy facing the discomforts 

 of a Highland storm on an exposed hillside, to crawl 

 through heather, bog, and grass wringing with mois- 

 ture, and then wait for the deer to rise, wet to the 

 skin, and with chattering teeth and frozen fingers, in a 

 bleak north-easter. I am far from saying that the 

 final triumph does not fully compensate one for these 



