LETTER XXI. 



153 



way as the Widgeon had done. A gallant little fellow the 

 miniature drake was in his bright new livery, his red head and 

 freckled grey back gleaming in the sunshine. However, on my 

 nearer approach, the vivacious little couple flitted away like a 

 dream, scarcely leaving a circling ripplet in the glassy mirror, 



which this moment had borne, as well as reflected, the trig little 

 figures of the elfin pair. 



A few Eazor-bills are swimming and dipping about the loch ; 

 their long, rattling croaks, borne along the smooth water, sound 

 like a Punch and Judy having a conjugal difference. Eun du na 

 sqadain (the black herring birds), the Highland fisherman calls 

 them, in common with the Guillemot ; for when he sees them pour 

 out their vast multitudes along the western shores, speckling the 



