38 LOCH C RE RAN. 



curious restless movement of the head out and into the 

 neck, gives the kestrel a strange mixture of gentleness 

 and watchfulness difficult to describe. 



What does it mean? To-day has been comparatively 

 good, but the wind exceedingly changeable, and the sun 

 is going down with a very stormy promise. As \ve 

 strain at the oars against a strong head wind a voice ex- 

 claims "golden plovers," and, sure enough, there is a 

 flock of half-a-dozen skimming down the wind. One of 

 them leaves its companions, and sweeps around till it 

 settles on the grassy slope by the sea, where it peeps at 

 us from the grass while we pass. There is no doubt 

 about it, we are too close to be mistaken, if we could 

 mistake the flight and cry of this graceful bird. The 

 tide is the highest for months, and it is down at the 

 verge where the dark fringe of sea-weed skirts the green 

 bank. What can it mean, this sudden early appearance 

 of a group of winter visitants ? are they driven from the 

 north by promise of a severe winter, or only carried 

 southward by the nor'-wester ! 



On Sunday last we were surprised at the movements 

 of the collected swallows of the district. In place of 

 sweeping gracefully around, they gathered on the beach 

 at low water, flying to and fro like a flight of sparrows, 

 and sitting on the tops of the stakes in the water in a 

 most undignified and common-place way for swallows. 

 The reason for this conduct on this day we scarcely 

 appreciated, for it has not been repeated since. No 

 doubt the weather was very heavy and depressing, and all 

 insects would be in the lower stratum of the atmosphere ; 

 but why settle upon the foreshore and on the seaware, 

 except to demolish marine insects? and if upon this 

 day, why not upon any other day when the tide was low? 



