262 NETHER LOCHABER. 



is it again regurgitated in form suitable for the young. In genuine 

 Gaelic poetry, the natural history is in a very remarkable manner 

 almost invariably correct. Here it was not, and we recollect tossing 

 the volume aside, and remarking that while much of Gaul might 

 certainly be " ancient," quite as much was modern, and that, 

 wittingly or unwittingly, Dr. Smith had been dealing in patch- 

 work. Dr. Smith cites a parallel passage to the above from 

 Thomson's Spring — 



" Away they fly, 

 Affectionate, and, undesiring, bear 

 The most delicious morsel to their young." 



But the context shows that Thomson is not referring to doves, but 



to Turdi and warblers that build 



** Among the roots 

 Of hazel pendent o'er the plaintive stream." 



And these do feed their callow young as represented in the poem, 

 though the Columhidce certainly do not. 



We observe that Mr. T. B. Snowie, of Inverness, has recently 

 been so fortunate as to secure a specimen of the spotted crake or 

 Crex porzana, a very rare bird indeed, of which we never saw a 

 living specimen. It seems, however, to be a more regular visitor 

 to our shores than is imagined, specimens having from time to time 

 been met with in almost all parts of Scotland. Our friend Mr. 

 Eobert Gray, in his excellent volume on The Birds of the West 

 of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, writes of the spotted crake as 

 follows : — " So far as I have observed, the spotted crake is a very 

 uncommon species in the western counties ; it is, however, more 

 numerously distributed throughout the eastern counties, extending 

 from Orkney to Berwickshire. In Aberdeen and Forfar shires, 

 according to Macgillivray, it can scarcely be called very rare. ' In 

 Scotland,' says Mr. More in the Ihis, ' the nest has been found 

 only in Perth, Aberdeen, and at Loch Spynie, in Elgin ; but as 



