BLACK-GAME 285 



order to take a fine scarlet when cooked, must be 

 boiled alive. These lobsters were gathered after 

 death, though still black, but when boiled they were 

 as bright red as any that ever graced a ball supper. 

 The only thing that preserved us from utter destruc- 

 tion in this gale, was, that it blew at its height for less 

 than three-quarters of an hour. The destructive char- 

 acter of its predecessor in December 1882, was caused 

 by the centre of the cyclone being arrested for a while 

 over the Isle of Mull, just in the position which 

 brought the north-west blow always the heaviest, 

 prevailing in its posterior segment, to bear on the 

 south-west coast of Scotland. 



LXXXVII 



Some complaints have been heard lately about 

 the serious decrease in the numbers of 



Black- Gam e 

 black-game in Scotland, and no doubt 



there is good reason for the same ; for black-game, 

 being polygamous, like their near relative the phea- 

 sant, will not endure the same severe treatment 

 which pairing game-birds survive. The mother- 

 bird's moral sense seems to have deteriorated owing 

 to the laxity of her connubial relations, for both hen 



