To Mountain Tarn 



descends, the light goes out, the charm vanishes. 

 For this reason the earlier or osprey chapters are 

 the brightest and most attractive. 



Seems as though St. John felt the spell. A 

 gleam of sunshine falls on the record of that 

 particular morning when he sets forth for its 

 haunts. An added vivacity, as from the grow- 

 ing excitement ; an elevation in the lines, as in 

 one who rises on tiptoe to catch an early glance, 

 tells of a near approach and the breaking of the 

 scene. " I was delighted beyond expression to 

 see two ospreys, one on the nest, the other 

 soaring over the loch." 



In 1848, Sutherlandshire was the home of the 

 osprey for Scotland. Many things were there 

 to attract it. A land of lakes caught the eye of 

 the lake lover. These lakes teemed, as they still 

 teem, with life. A third feature, which lends a 

 strange picturesqueness to the scene, was potent 

 as the other two. To some eight or ten feet 

 above the surface rise certain characteristic trun- 

 cated cones, as though waiting to be crowned. 

 These cones determined the nesting site for the 

 area. In the centre of action, the sitting bird 

 could watch the diving of her lord, or look down 

 where the trout darted from the ominous shadow, 

 or drew near with a certain fearful curiosity. 



The scene was infinitely remote and quiet. 

 Much of it was rude, with sparsely scattered 

 game, which offered few attractions to the sports- 



'55 



