WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



they keep in close rank, but as soon as they aHght the whole 

 company instantly disperse, and run (not jump, like many 

 small birds) quickly about in search of their food, which con- 

 sists principally of small insects and minute seeds. They 

 often pitch to look for these on the barest parts of the sand- 

 hills, the dry sands always producing a number of small flies 

 and beetles. So fine and dry is the sand which composes the 

 hillocks and plains of that curious district, that every beetle 

 and fly that walks or crawls over its surface in calm and dry 

 weather leaves its track as distinctly marked on the finely 

 pulverised particles, as the rabbit or hare does on snow. 

 The foot-prints of the lizards, which abound there, are very 

 neatly and distinctly marked, till the first breath of wind 

 drifting the sand erases the impressions. One of my child- 

 ren brought home a large lizard one day, and put it into a 

 box, intending to keep it as a pet; boys having strange 

 tastes in the animals which they select as favourites. I re- 

 member that when I was a boy at school, I was the owner 

 of three living pets — -a rat, a bat, and a snake, all of which 

 lived and flourished for somemonths under my tender care, 

 notwithstandinof the occasional edicts sent forth from head- 

 quarters against any living animal whatever being kept in 

 the school-room. But to return to the lizard in the box. The 

 next morning, to the children's great delight, the lizard had 

 become much reduced in circumference, but had produced 

 four young ones, who were apparently in full and vigorous 

 enjoyment of life. They were voted, at a consultation of 

 the children, to be entitled to, and worthy of liberty, and 

 were all (mother and children) carefully put into the gar- 

 den, in a sunny corner under the wall. 



114 



