202 ANGLING & ART IN SCOTLAND 



on one of the precipices of Ben More, from which 

 MacNaughton determined to secure a young bird. 

 At night, it seems, the parent birds leave their 

 young in the nest, while they themselves roost on 

 a neighbouring crag ; consequently that is the safest 

 time at which to raid their domicile. It was in 

 the middle of an April night that the hardy 

 MacNaughton made the attempt, climbing down 

 the face of the cliff by the aid of a rope attached 

 to a crowbar on the summit, driven in at the 

 required spot on the previous day. Another man 

 was with him, who remained on the top to offer 

 assistance if necessary. He describes how, care- 

 fully, in stockinged feet, they had to approach the 

 neighbourhood of the nest lest they should awaken 

 the old birds. A thrilling experience this crag 

 climbing at dead of night with nothing to depend 

 upon but a rope, and with the ever-present dread 

 of being assailed by a pair of infuriated eagles I 

 However, the venture was safely accomplished, and 

 the captive carried home — doomed to live, probably, 

 for the rest of its life in a cage. 



I fear that I have no tales of fabulous baskets 

 caught in the Dochart with which to enliven my 

 readers ; for if one gets twenty fish on this river in 



