Wanderings of a Naturalist 



spate-for the sudden thaw on the high hills had brought 

 much snow water from the corries— and the rushin- of the 

 river carried far in the stillness of the glen. Cairn Toul 

 Itself was hidden in mist, but Ben MacDhui was clear, with 

 glinipses of sunlight showing up the great snow wreath lying 

 at the head of Coire nan Taillear-or the Tailors' Corrie- 

 and the burn, running fast and strong, suddenly emerging 

 half-way down the hillside from beneath the snow. 



The boulder-strewn Garbh Choire, stretching away west- 

 ward mto the mists, carried much snow in its gloomy recesses 

 and the field of the previous winter's snow— which has never 

 been known to disappear even during the hottest of summers 

 —was hidden from view by fresh and deep drifts. In one 

 place an avalanche of snow had been loosened by the thaw 

 and Its snowball-like accumulation lay strewn on the hillside' 

 Poised just above the ridge of Ben MacDhui was a small, dark 

 object which, through the glass, was revealed as a peregrine 

 falcon. Motionless he hung in the teeth of a strong breeze, 

 hovering like a giant kestrel as he scanned the ground be- 

 neath him. After a time, swinging round in a circle, he 

 searched another part of the hillside and here seemed to spy 

 something, for he dropped again and again, hovering motion- 

 less between whiles until he had reached a point only a few 

 yards above the ground. I do not know whether he secured 

 his quarry, for w^atching him was difficult in the uncertain 

 light. 



I have rarely, if ever, seen finer colours of light and shade 

 on the Cairngorm Hills. Between the showers the air was 

 exceptionally clear, and the snow-freed corries and slopes 

 were of an extraordinarily deep blue and appeared wonder- 

 fully near. Even the snow itself at times took on a pale blue 

 tint. Inky black clouds spread across the hills from the west, 

 and then almost instantly disappeared, to be replaced by a 

 sky of turquoise blue. It was only very occasionally that 

 the sun shone on Ben MacDhui, and never during this day 

 on Braeriach or Cairn Toul. 



136 



