128 ORNITHOLOGICAL RAMBLES. 



" The summer dawn's reflected hue 

 To purple changed Loch Katrine blue ; 

 Mildly and soft the western breeze 

 Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees " 



would have been a very inappropriate description on 

 the occasion of my visit, being lashed by a stiff south- 

 easter into the wildest commotion ; so that even a 

 moderately heavy " tub," with two sturdy boatmen at 

 the oars, which myself and a friend had engaged for 

 the day, was tossed about in a very unceremonious 

 manner. Notwithstanding these adverse circumstances 

 we were successful in luring thirteen nice trout from 

 its depths, extremely dark in colonr, though their flesh 

 cut beautifully red when brought to table. On the four 

 following days the sun burst forth with an intensity 

 singularly unfavourable to piscatorial enterprise. 

 Nevertheless I did not desert my colours, and Loch 

 Vennachar and Loch Lubnaig received their due share 

 of my attentions. The latter is a long winding loch, 

 in the midst of some wild and bold scenery ; the sides 

 of the hills, that slope to the water's brink, being 

 much less wooded than those in the more immediate 

 vicinity of the Trossachs. 



We commenced betimes at the mouth of this loch on 

 the morning of the 4th, after a four mile walk ; but 

 the trout were disinclined to rise, and the extreme 

 smoothness of the water, the denseness of the fog, and 

 the stillness of the atmosphere, presaged a broiling day. 



