I A Gossip on a Sutherland Hill-side 223 



friends, and then count the number of strange birds 

 you have seen. Any given day in the year, wood- 

 cocks may be flushed in the coverts and snipes on 

 the moor. Wild geese breed plentifully about some 

 of the lakes, and the young are pinioned and reared 

 by the farmers ; so, O tourist, if you find a few- 

 swimming on Loch Shin, do not capture them and 

 bring them to Lairg, as did certain young gentlemen 

 last year, or your triumph in your woodcraft will be 

 dashed by the laughter of the gillies, and the 

 blasphemy of the proprietor, — as was theirs. The 

 Meganser breeds on Loch Beannach, as I know to 

 my sorrow, for I once slew a whole brood of three 

 at a shot, unwitting what they were ; and he who 

 fishes up Loch Shin without hearing the hoarse cry 

 of the black -throated diver, warning her young 

 against his approach, must be unlucky indeed. 



The greater number of Sutherland birds belong 

 to classes that love the wild moor, and the silent, 

 rarely-visited loch ; if you see them, it is nine times 

 out of ten when you are looking for something 

 else, and seldom do they show themselves to the 

 passing traveller who rattles round the country in 

 the mail cart. The golden eagles were destroyed 

 by the farmers because they killed their lambs, and 

 the foxes more deservingly for the same reason, and 

 the osprey was exterminated to supply the tourist- 

 market with herself and eggs, much to the Duke's 

 annoyance. However, the eagles have it all their 

 own way now. It has been found that the destruc- 



