JULY, 1 88 1. 23 



pathetic servant girl, who has taken a strange fancy for 

 the bold handsome bird, and with whom it is much more 

 familiar than with anyone else. The peculiar telescopic 

 movement, up and down, of the head, seems an instinc- 

 tive action when it is very watchful ; but when quite at 

 rest the head is sunk down upon the bosom as in other 

 birds. 



The peregrine falcons recently captured in the vicinity 

 were balls of fluff when first secured, but are now very 

 handsome birds in fine plumage male and female the 

 latter much the larger, as is commonly the case among 

 the raptores. They have not been sufficiently familiarised 

 with their owners, however, and are not interesting pets 

 in consequence ; while their continual " squeaking " is 

 enough to split one's head. The worst of the raptores, 

 when thus kept in confinement, is the strong and dis- 

 agreeable effluvia they emit. 



We were recently amusing ourselves watching the 

 small black-headed gulls following the steamer in Loch 

 Linnhe, only less interesting and graceful than the sea- 

 swallows. One single herring-gull appeared among 

 them, but had not long been engaged in the same 

 avocation of diving behind the steamer, when it became 

 enraged at one of the blackheads, and followed it with 

 great pertinacity across and across the loch, the smaller 

 bird escaping by constantly " jinking " its pursuer as it 

 pounced upon it. The other blackheads meantime 

 continued careles? and unobservant, but at length one of 

 them seemed to consider the "persecuting" stage had 

 been reached, and set off full flight to help the pursued. 

 This it did just as a school boy would, by running across 

 and across the course of a bully chasing a little boy, the 

 larger bird continuing most pertinaciously until the 



