1 6 OUR RARER BIRDS 



localities, and here we can still study the nesting economy of 

 this fast disappearing species. As we wander over the breezy 

 hillsides bird-life in abundance may be seen. Carrion Crows 

 and Hoodies rise from the short turf, or fly from the rocks and 

 circle high in air above our heads ; Skylarks soaring to the 

 clouds trill forth their sweetest strains ; Herring Gulls and 

 Kittiwakes keep up a noisy clamour as we near the sea-cliffs ; 

 Oystercatchers utter their shrill whistle as they fly along the 

 shore from one shingly point to another ; whilst farther in- 

 land the notes of the Curlew are. sounding distinctly but 

 faintly from the moors. The bleating of lambs high up 

 the hills and the barking of dogs mingle with the dull roar 

 of the water hundreds of feet below. Every step the 

 cliffs become higher and steeper, more rugged, more pic- 

 turesque, until at last we are startled from our quiet contem- 

 plations by the shrill barking cry of the Eagle as he sweeps 

 proudly and defiantly from the cliffs below. The morning 

 sun glances on the yellow feathers of his head and neck, 

 making them glow like burnished gold, and his dark plumage 

 shows almost black against the blue water. Flying once or 

 twice round and round, and swooping rapidly past the face of 

 the cliff, he surveys our unwelcome intrusion. He soon flies 

 out to sea, probably to the distant shores of Uist, leaving us to 

 storm his mountain home. The nest is built in the highest 

 portion of the cliffs, where a good look-out can be obtained 

 and where the rocks are truly terrible in their rugged 

 grandeur. Six hundred feet above an ever-restless sea they 

 tower, partly in sloping grassy downs, broken here and there 

 by precipices, and partly in a beetling rock. Far down on the 

 water Guillemots and Puffins gambol and bob about like 

 corks, and Gulls stand motionless on the rocks. Primroses 

 and seapinks cluster thickly on the cliffs, and in every nook 

 and crevice the delicate spleenwort fern sends up its beautiful 

 fronds in rare luxuriance. The Eagles' eyrie, in use for years, 



