12 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CH. I. 



numerous other magnificent mountains, gray and 

 dreary, and with but little vegetation of any kind, 

 although along the edges of the lakes and streams 

 there is always a certain width of bright green 

 herbage, where the sheep at this season find plenty 

 of good grazing. The long ranges of cliff-like rocks 

 near Inchnadamph are very splendid in their height 

 and shape, and are frequented by buzzards, ravens, 

 gray crows, and a pair of peregrine falcons. Not- 

 withstanding all these enemies the ring-ousel sings 

 from every green corner of the rocks, while wheat- 

 ears (safer perhaps from their smaller size and their 

 habit of dodging under the stones) are extremely 

 numerous everywhere along the road side. At 

 Inchnadamph we arrived late in the evening, and 

 found a comfortable, clean inn, an obliging land- 

 lord, and all the accompaniments that one could 

 wish to refresh both mind and body (I am afraid 

 that the former is sadly dependent on the latter), 

 at the end of rather a hard and long day's work, 

 for we had been actively employed from daylight. 

 The black-throated diver (Colymbus arcticus) is 

 a peculiarly beautiful and singularly marked bird. 

 Though generally rare, in certain localities which 

 happen to be adapted to its habits this bird is not 

 unfrequently to be found during the breeding 

 season. It invariably breeds on some small, flat 



