378 NETHER LOCHABER. 



natural state of freedom, about the time of the longest day, when 

 there is hardly any night in our latitudes, may be heard singing, 

 generally unconnectedly, and in a faint, uncertain key. The 

 pigeon will coo at any time when brooding, if rudely disturbed in 

 any way, just as a brooding hen will purr and scold if you annoy 

 'her or her nest at any hour of the day or night. The cooing of 

 a pigeon, therefore, at midnight is nothing very wonderful. The 

 hooting of an owl at noonday, however, is surprising, and a 

 thing which, although we live in a district where owls are 

 plentiful, is altogether unknown in our experience. 



