ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 5 



colour of the eggs themselves, was beautifully exem- 

 plified in the present specimens. The above collection 

 is not usually shown to strangers, as the exposure to 

 the light which their exhibition would involve would 

 be fatal to their retention of colour. 



We now entered Loch Ness. A steady fall of rain 

 between this point and Inverness sadly obscured the 

 beauties of the loch. Glen Urquhart, with the re- 

 mains of its fine old castle, is a lovely spot, and does 

 not fail to arrest the attention. 



Arrived at Inverness, I took up my quarters at the 

 Caledonian Hotel. The same evening, while enjoying 

 a walk along the river Ness, I had an opportunity of 

 closely observing a summer snipe, or dunlin (Trin.f/a 

 variabilis), as he rested upon a stone upon the water's 

 edge. This was the second bird of the kind I had 

 noticed that day. The following morning, in extending 

 my rambles along the shore, I found the nest of the 

 common yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), contain- 

 ing four eggs ; previous to which I had the inexpres- 

 sible delight of observing, for the first time, what I 

 believe to have been an osprey or fishing eagle (Falco 

 Jialiaetus) circling in majestic flight far out at sea, 

 until I lost sight of him entirely. 



" . . . There was an air of scorn 

 In all his movements, whether he threw round 

 His crested head to look behind him, or 

 Lay vertical and sportively display'd 



