86 TOUR IN SUTHERLAND. CH. VI. 



crop of every bird. The rock-pigeon is a very 

 beautifully-shaped little bird, rather smaller and 

 shorter than the common house-pigeon, of which 

 it is plainly the original stock. They seem very 

 restless, seldom remaining long in one field, but 

 constantly rising and flitting away to some other 

 feeding ground, with an uncertain kind of flight ; 

 but when alarmed, or going straight home, they fly 

 with very great rapidity. They are easily tamed 

 when caught young. The eggs seem very diffi- 

 cult to get at ; nothing but a ladder will enable a 

 person to reach them, and it is almost impossible 

 either to procure such a ladder, or, if procured, to 

 carry it to the caverns where they breed. 



There were two or three beautiful wild-flowers 

 near Durness which I had not seen before. They 

 grew on the short grass that covers the summit of 

 the cliffs. I picked up, while wandering about 

 there, some of the small land shells with yellow 

 and black stripes (Helix nemoralis), exactly similar 

 to those which, when a child, I used to find on 

 the South Downs, near Brighton. The rocky head- 

 lands jutting into the sea near Durness are very 

 bold and abrupt. While looking for rock-pigeons I 

 saw a few of the red-legged crow, or Cornish chough, 

 passing from rock to rock, and busily employed 

 about the broken stones searching for food. 



