476 THE MOOR AND THE LOCH. 



seen in the more remote districts, and the great corbie seems 

 to thrive among the extensive sheep-walks of all the wilder 

 hills. 



The Eoyston or grey crow is, however, by far the most 

 formidable foe to game, for one of these birds will destroy as 

 many grouse in the egg as twenty golden eagles will after 

 they are full-fledged. The other rapacious birds are thinly 

 scattered over the island, but vast numbers of these crows 

 occupy the woods and hills in spring and summer, crowding 

 the shores during autumn and winter in large flocks. They 

 are nearly as destructive as the raven to young lambs, and 

 their instinct at once detects the sickly sheep, whose eyes 

 they scoop out in a moment with their wedge-bill. Of course 

 the shepherds are mortal enemies to the " hoodachs," as they 

 call them, and ably second our efforts for their destruction. 

 The only effectual way to deal with such numbers is by poison. 

 To prevent mischief, I gave orders that the poisoned baits 

 should be laid chiefly on the islet-rocks along the coast, and, 

 unless absolutely necessary, to place none on the mainland. 

 As a general rule, the banks of either fresh or salt water are 

 good places to plant traps. Winged vermin especially much 

 frequent the shores for any deposits of carrion washed up by 

 the waters. In rugged districts of sea-coast, where wild- cats 

 are not extinct, they prowl the shores nightly in search of 

 dead fish cast up by the waves, and are easily trapped by a 

 piece of stale fish, which they prefer to fresh. The shore- 

 supply, especially in winter, is considerable, which no doubt 

 is one reason why the grey crows congregate there so much, 

 neglecting their upland feeding-grounds. I have often tried 

 to find out why so many toad-fish are left by the tide every 

 autumn and winter in a dead or dying state, but, like the 

 dead shrew-mice which strew the paths at harvest-time, it yet 

 remains a mystery. Those ugly flat fish, called by the villagers 

 " clocking hens," sometimes grow to an immense size, and when 

 turned on their back, the enormous circular mouth, armed 



