President'' s Address. 319 



briefly to notice a few of the more prominent features. This, 

 along with the admirable G-inch-to-the-mile Ordnance Survey 

 Map, ought to prove sufficient for practical purposes. 



The peninsular portion to the north of The Pool {vide Map) 

 and between that and The North Ness is rugged, bare, and 

 often spray- washed ; rocky, with deep gyos or water-channels, 

 having a few green patches of shallow sea-pink soil on some 

 of the higher portions. Often, amongst the crevices and 

 shelter-giving hollows of these splintered and weather-beaten 

 rocks, a friend and myself lay ensconced, and took stock 

 of Cormorant or Sea-gull, or passing migrant, such as the 

 Hooded crow, or watched the active Merlin dash, swaft as 

 thought, amono'st a flock of shore-birds. On this stretch the 

 Oystercatcher breeds, selecting for its nesting site the slightly 

 grassy eminences ; and Terns are reported to have bred in 

 former times. Only during extremely high tides is this lo^ 

 North-^NTess portion separated from the rest of the island, 

 and never, as far as I could learn, is it so completely isolated 

 as to prevent passage on foot across the two narrow gyos on 

 either side of a small island, which is marked on the map. 



Another section of the island, between that which I have 

 just mentioned and the narrow lochs or arms of the sea 

 marked on the map as East and West Tarbet, is more 

 elevated, greener, and contains deeper soil. Here rabbits 

 have their burrows, and Eider ducks breed in small numbers. 



The central portion of the Isle of May, which may be said 

 to rise rapidly southwards from the Tarbet lochs past the 

 landing-place called " The Altarstones," and of which the 

 lighthouse occupies one of the two or three highest points, — 

 reaching in altitude 250 feet above sea-level,— is richer still 

 in loam and grazing, growing many fine and richly-flavoured 

 mushrooms, of which delightful esculent we had daily supplies 

 the whole time we were there in September and October 

 1884. Over this, as in lower portions also. Woodcock at 

 times are common, sheltering provokingly close behind a 

 jutting rock, or even beneath the shelter of the rougher grasses 

 in the hollows; and here rabbits are most abundant, but 

 wary and quick in their movements. 



The fourth, or most southern part of the Isle of May, is 



