172 LOCH C RE RAN. 



is on the top of a furze bush, scarcely distinguishable 

 from the thorny accretions that gather on the forks. We 

 should think this one of their most successful situations, 

 as, although we know their favourite corners, we but 

 seldom manage to find them there. Year after year a 

 pair of coletits build in a hole under the roof of a cottage 

 at Barcaldine, and already this year they are hard at 

 work ; but whether it is exactly the same pair or some of 

 their progeny, would require a lengthened experiment to 

 discover. There seems little reason to doubt that the 

 same pair exactly will return for a considerable time to a 

 suitable nesting situation, and we have no doubt that, 

 in the event of misfortune overtaking them, others will 

 be ready promptly to take advantage of the vacancy. 



The last dredge has been taken, and we are rowing 

 quietly in the vicinity of the " Cairn," with unexpectedly 

 calm water around it. Just one glance to see if the skates 

 are coming in, although a skate-spear is no part of our 

 dredging armament. The boat drifts slowly back and 

 forward above the waving taminaria, and we peer 

 through the water for the dusky forms above the still 

 darker seaweed. We are about to leave, when a dark 

 grey figure floats across the field of view, and an unfail- 

 ing hand has sent the handle of a graip well through it 

 before the others are properly aware of its presence. 

 " Catch it by the tail ! " says the captor eagerly ; but our 

 acquaintance with skates is of ancient date, and our 

 hands are not sufficiently horny to handle a thornback 

 with impunity. Even the scales of the skin are sharp 

 enough to score the hands of an ordinary person severely, 

 and a knife is the only implement we can improvise with 

 which to gaff them. Another and another now come with- 

 in sight, evidently coming in cairn-wards as the evening 



