26 FIELD-NOTES FOR THE YEAR. CH. XXII. 



ivory, which driven in by the full strength of the bird's 

 head and neck, must penetrate like a wedge into the 

 shell of the strongest shell-fish found on these shores. 



Beautiful, surpassingly beautiful, is the view 

 before me, as I rest myself on a height of the sand- 

 hills facing towards the north. The bright and 

 calm sea close at hand, and the variously-shaped 

 and variously-coloured cliffs and rocks of Cromarty 

 and Ross-shire, at a distance in reality of twelve or 

 fifteen miles, but which, as the sun shines full upon 

 them, appear to be very much nearer, and all these 

 are backed by mountains of every form and outline, 

 but of a uniform deep blue tipped with white 

 peaks. The sea as smooth as a mirror except where 

 some sea-fowl suddenly splashes down into the 

 water, making a few silvery circles, which soon 

 disappear. Every here and there is a small flock of 

 the long-tailed duck, diving and sporting in the sea, 

 and uttering their strange but musical cry as they 

 chase each other, swimming rapidly in small circles 

 or taking short flights close above the surface ; the 

 whole flock dropping all at once into the water as if 

 shot, not alighting gradually like the mallard and 

 other ducks. 



The heavy but handsome velvet ducks ride 

 quietly on the sea in small companies, at the dis- 

 tance of about two hundred yards from the shore, 



