A MISTAKE AND THE RESULT. 325 



Fort- William June market, and amongst other things brought 

 home with him, on his return in the evening, two small parcels, 

 one containing one pound of turnip seed, the other the same quantity 

 red clover seed. Next morning he was up bright and early, and 

 as an exercise that might perhaps help to drive away a headache, 

 not uncommon on such occasions, he resolved, the day being 

 favourable, to sow his turnip and clover seeds. He commenced, 

 and, very unwittingly you may believe, sowed the turnip seed 

 broadcast among the barley braird, and the red clover seed in the 

 drills prepared for the turnips ! The blunder was only discovered 

 several days afterwards, when the seeds began to sprout after their 

 kind, and matters were rectified as the case best allowed ; but poor 

 Donald never heard the last of the joke, which, when followed 

 beyond certain limits, used to make him exceedingly angry. 



Mackenzie the bird-catcher, facile princeps the king and head of 

 his order, called upon us to-day, and made us a present of the 

 bonniest little redpole we ever set eyes upon. Its colouring is 

 exquisitely beautiful, differing from the usual plumage of the 

 species in having several little snow-white spots irregularly sprinkled 

 over the coverts of either wing, and its neck and breast of a 

 mingled shade of pink and crimson of exceeding richness, that 

 makes it far and away the handsomest bird of the order we ever 

 saw. At first we took it for a foreign bird, or a bird that had been 

 artificially painted in order to deceive us, and it was only on 

 handling and thoroughly examining him that we became convinced 

 that the bird was a genuine, though curiously coloured, specimen of 

 its species, and that we had it before us just as it was captured 

 some days ago in Glentarbet, near Strontian. Of all our cage- 

 birds, the redpole (Fringalla linaria, Linn.) is perhaps the soonest 

 reconciled to loss of liberty and prolonged captivity. Our little 

 pet, whose cage hangs almost within arm's length of us as we write, 

 seems perfectly happy, and is already singing with all his might, a 



