200 KEMINISCENCES OF A SPORTSMAN. 



ducks of different kinds, particularly widgeons, swarrned 

 round them, and often snatched the pieces of grass from 

 the swans as soon as they had brought them to the 

 surface, to the great annoyance of the noble birds. 



Our next step was to drive the swans away from the 

 lochs they were on : it seemed a curious way of getting 

 a shot, but as the old man seemed confident of the 

 success of his plan, I very submissively acted according 

 to his orders. 



As soon as we moved them, they ail made straight for 

 the sea. " This won't do," was my remark. " Yes it 

 will, though ; they'll no stop there lang the day, wi' this 

 great wind, but will a' be back before the clock chaps 

 twa." " Faith, I should be glad to see any building 

 that could contain a clock, and where we might take 

 shelter," was my inward cogitation. 



The old man, however, having delivered his prophecy, 

 set to work making an ambuscade by the edge of the 

 loch which the birds had just left, and pointed it out 

 to me as my place of refuge from one o'clock to the 

 hour the birds should arrive. In the meantime, we 

 moved about in order to keep ourselves warm, as a more 

 wintry day never disgraced the month of October. In 

 less than half an hour we heard the signal cries of the 

 swans, and soon saw them in a long undulating line fly 

 over the low sand-hills which divided the sea from the 

 largest loch, where they alighted. 



My commander for the time being then explained to 

 me that water in this loch was everywhere too deep for 

 the swans to reach the bottom, in order to pull up the 

 weeds on which they fed; and that at their feeding time, 

 about two o'clock, they would without doubt fly over to 

 the smaller lochs, and probably to the same from which 



