BIRD LIFE IN COLONSAY 59 



heat very much and seemed to be panting through 

 their open beaks. One of them appeared to have a 

 game leg, as he kept hopping instead of running, and 

 was very top-heavy in consequence. However, I saw 

 one or two of his companions hop once or twice heavily, 

 as if they wanted to frighten the worms, beetles, &c. 

 on which they were feeding to the surface. I noticed 

 that they were very fond of stretching out their wings 

 at right angles to their bodies. As a rule they are 

 quite as hard to stalk as jackdaws, although they often 

 fly quite close past one's head. One day, however, as 

 Geoffrey was out with his rifle, a party of four or five 

 choughs came so close over him that he could have 

 touched them with the barrel. He was crawling at 

 the time, and the birds evidently did not like his 

 appearance, for they settled about three yards off, 

 craned their necks and simply cursed, even following 

 him as he crawled." 



I did not often see carrion crows, but hoodies were 

 very common. I never saw an eagle or osprey, although 

 the golden eagle was fairly common in Jura, protected 

 by that keen naturalist and sportsman, Henry Evans, 

 at that time the tenant of the forest at the south end, 

 and resident at his fine house just above the " Small 

 Isles," the harbour where his yacht lay at anchor. 

 Kindred tastes attached him to Sir John M'Neill, and 

 he used often to visit Colonsay to study, but not to 

 molest the seals, and take the Chief back with him to 

 enjoy a day with his red deer round the Paps. Besides 

 the peregrine falcon already alluded to, the falcon tribe 

 were represented by large numbers of kestrels, and a 

 good many merlins. The common buzzard and the 



