I70 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS chap. 



rapidly to the other end of the poo!, where they rose, showing 

 only the very tip of their bill, which I could distinguish by the 

 small wave in the water made when it first came up. After 

 remaining in this position for a short time, they gradually lifted 

 up more and more of their head, till, seeing that all danger was 

 over and that the dog had left their pool, they rose entirely to 

 the surface, and shaking their feathers resumed their usual atti- 

 tudes, keeping, however, at a respectful distance and watching 

 the dog. After the young ones were hatched and full grown 

 they again disappeared, leaving us for the winter. How or where 

 they went it is difficult to imagine. 



If the weather is tolerably open, the bald coot ^ arrives here 

 early in the spring. It is very difficult to make this bird fly, 

 unless it happens to be surprised in the open part of the lake, 

 when it darts off immediately to the rushes, where, diving and 

 wading with great quickness, it remains so completely concealed 

 that neither dog nor man can put it up again. Its young ones 

 are like a ball of black down, but swim about and dive as 

 cleverly as their parents. They build a very large nest amongst 

 the rushes growing in the water, and sit very close. The coot 

 has an ornamAital appearance on a sheet of water, from their 

 constant activity in swimming about, and their loud, wild cry 

 adds an interest to the solitude of the Highland lake. 



The water-hen - is another bird which deserves encourage- 

 ment and protection, as they repay it by becoming tame and 

 familiar, leaving the water to feed with the poultry, and walking 

 about all day on the grass, with an air of the greatest confidence 

 and sociability. I know nothing prettier than the young ones, 

 as they follow their parents in their active search for flies and 

 insects. When first hatched they are perfectly black, with a 

 small spot of bright red skin on the top of their beaks. 



These birds remain with us all the winter, only changing 

 their location from the pools to the open ditches in severe 

 frosts. 



The water-rail ^ I only see in the winter, and even then 

 rarely. I do not think that it is a regular visitor to us, for 



' Lays eight eggs. — C. St. J. 



' Gallinula chloropus, a bird always inclined to be tame and familiar, and to associate 

 with common fowls, etc. — C. St. J. 



' Rallus aquaticus, breeds in Spynie. Took the nest 17th May 1851, eight eggs.— 

 C. St. J. 



