A NOBLE PICTURE. 59 



a noble aspect, an imperative mien, a look of proud defiance ; 

 but bis nobility has a cast of clownishness, and his falconship 

 a vulturine tinge. Still he is a noble bird, powerful, inde- 

 pendent, proud, and ferocious, regardless of the weal or woe 

 of others, and intent only on the gratification of his own 

 appetite; without generosity, without honour; bold against 

 the defenceless, but ever ready to sneak from danger. Such 

 is his nobility, about which men have so raved. 



" Suddenly he raises his wings, for he has heard the whistle 

 of the shepherd on the crag, and bounding forward, he springs 

 into the air. Hardly do those vigorous flaps serve at first to 

 prevent his descent, but now curving upwards, he glides ma- 

 jestically along. As he passes the corner of that buttressed 

 and battlemented crag, forth rush two ravens from their nest, 

 croaking fiercely. While one flies above him, the other steals 

 beneath, and they essay to strike him, but dare not, for they 

 have an instinctive knowledge of the power of his grasp ; and, 

 after following him a little way, they return to their home, 

 vainly exulting in the thought of having driven him from their 

 neighbourhood. 



"But on a far journey, he advances in a direct line, flapping 

 his great wings at regular intervals, then shooting along without 

 seeming to move them. In ten minutes he has progressed three 

 miles, although he is in no haste, and now disappears behind 

 the shoulder of the hill. But we may follow him in imagina- 

 tion, for his habits being well known to us, we may be allowed 

 the ornithological license of tracing them in continuance." 



Homeward bound, Mr Macgillivray continues, after hav- 



