172 FORAYS AMONG SALMON AND DEER. 



We now waited for some time, hoping that the four 

 birds which had gone away might return to look after 

 their wounded friends ; but they came not, and we 

 resumed our rambles. My attendant presently pointed 

 out to me a spot, where a nephew of the Laird's had 

 lately accomplished a feat, not much less marvellous 

 than the fabulous one of catching a weasel asleep ; for 

 seeing a cormorant standing on the beach, with his 

 head snugly hidden beneath his wing, he crept in upon 

 it without his shoes, and actually seized the bird while 

 still napping. 



A little further on, I sat down among some pinnacle- 

 shaped rocks, rising like so many needles from a small 

 promontory, and amused myself by watching some 

 children fishing for their dinners; the water being 

 a good depth to the very edge of the rock. Having 

 caught upwards of a score, the little urchins took their 

 departure, and left me gazing musingly into the green 

 depths beneath. Johnny soon pointed out a dark 

 object flying towards us, which, on its nearer approach, 

 proved to be a cormorant, bent upon the same errand 

 'as the children who had just left us; the spot being a 

 favourite resort of the kind of fish called " cuddies." 

 We stood motionless, and the bird, ignorant of our 

 proximity, came on, and alighting within a short 

 distance of us, commenced diving for his meal. 

 Though within an easy shot, I could not bring myself 

 to mar its happiness so ruthlessly as to fire. But at 

 length, when within thirty or forty yards, he suddenly 

 caught sight of us, and at once rose into the air, and 

 was suffered to depart without molestation. 



Beyond the promontory lay a quiet little cove, and 

 as we approached a fishing-boat lying upside down 011 

 the beach, a mountain hare,' now almost white, sprang 

 from beneath its cover, and bounded up the cliff. I 



