30 ORNITHOLOGICAL EAMBLES. 



formed, and the procession marching away, brought this 

 interesting ceremony to a close. 



Tn the course of this afternoon I walked up to the 

 castle, and had the pleasure of finding Sir George at 

 home. He received me with a kindness and hospita- 

 lity which I shall not easily forget, and many a 

 pleasant hour passed happily away beneath the shadow 

 of his ample roof tree. 



The same evening I took a stroll along the heights 

 to the westward. The air was calm and still, and the 

 sea smooth ; and as I threaded the edge of the cliffs 

 that stretch away beyond the little village of Scrabster, 

 where his late Majesty once possessed a royal castle, a 

 mingled concert of bird's voices suddenly pervaded the 

 otherwise silent air, and as I neared the spot a count- 

 less throng of seafowl were nestling and huddling 

 together upon the turf-mantled summit of a shapeless 

 mass of stone, which was completely isolated from the 

 mainland by a deep and sickening abyss. I could have 

 shot hundreds, but it would have been impossible to 

 obtain one. This was the only spot on this point of the 

 coast on which I found birds congregated to this extent. 

 They had evidently chosen it as affording them the best 

 protection, on account of its insulated position. They 

 seemed perfectly aware of their security, and remained 

 serenely undisturbed at niy approach. 



Upon a piece of very rough ground, covered with low 

 heaps of shaly fragments, I shot a fine specimen of the 



