D ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



The inside whiteness of his wing declined, 

 In gyres and undulations full of grace, 

 An object beautifying Heaven itself/' 



CAMPBELL'S Dead Eagle. 



At 8 o'clock, p.m., the 'Defiance' mail omnibus 

 brought me to Tain, on the Firth of Dornock, along a 

 pretty road skirting the Beauly river and the Firth of 

 Cromarty, a journey of five hours. On all sides I 

 heard that the winter had been unusually severe, and 

 of long continuance throughout Scotland ; in fact, that 

 they had had no spring. Nevertheless, vegetation was by 

 no means backward, as Nature seemed to have regained 

 her balance by a sudden and remarkable effort. 



There was a vast number of corncrakes (Gallinula 

 crex) in the wheat fields along this coast, and on Sun- 

 day evening, while taking a walk about two miles 

 from the town, I had the satisfaction of seeing one of 

 these elegant little birds in the act of giving utterance 

 to its discordant cry upon a piece of bare stony ground 

 within a few feet of the road. I am not at all sur- 

 prised to hear that countless flocks of wild fowl 

 assemble in this bay in the winter season. Admirably 

 protected from the north and west, it would afford 

 plenty of food and harbour to almost any number 

 when driven from the inclement north to seek the 

 shelter of our shores. There would be capital fun 

 here with a punt gun, and thousands are annually 

 slain for the London markets. 



