82 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



infest bis skin, or on the flies that perpetually 

 buzz about bis ears and bead. So faithful, indeed, 

 is their allegiance, that they adhere pertinaciously 

 to the back of the rhinoceros, when in full retreat, 

 and instead of deserting him as he rushes through 

 the trees, or under the boughs, they merely dodge 

 to the opposite side of his body, or creep under 

 his belly, maintaining their hold with their claws 

 until the danger has passed away, when they 

 resume their position on his back. In this case 

 even the most sceptical must admit that the 

 services of the bird to the object of its care are 

 not gratuitous, and it seems to furnish presump- 

 tive evidence that the attachment of the zic-zac 

 to the crocodile is of a similar nature. 



Now for my own experience of an analogous 

 case. 



Many years ago, in the west of Ireland, where 

 I served my youthful apprenticeship to every wild 

 sport that the British Islands can afford except 

 deer-stalking I used to vary the salmon and 

 trout-fishing, during the summer, by an occasional 

 senl-shooting expedition on the sandhills and 

 islands outside the river Moy, in Killalla Bay. 

 At low tides, when these banks were left unco- 

 vered, great numbers of seals used to crawl up the 

 slopes of the lesser islets and indulge in a sound 



