122 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [cmap. xv. 
than they are along our coast by Burghead, Gordonston, &e. $ 
the rock-pigeons therefore make those rocks their head-quarters. 
Being at Cromarty early in last June, I made an excursion 
along the rocks, for the double purpose of seeing the coast, 
which is peculiarly bold and magnificent on the Ross-shire side 
of the Cromarty Ferry, and also of shooting some pigeons and 
other birds which bred in the caves and cliffs. 
Having hired a boat and crew, we started from Cromarty at 
the first of the ebb on a bright calm day, with the little wind 
that there was coming from the west. If the slightest east wind 
comes on, the roll of the sea from the German Ocean is so heavy 
on these rocks that it is impossible to approach them. This is 
also the case for some days after an east wind has been blowing, 
as there still remains a considerable swell. On nearing the west 
end of the rocks, which are several hundred feet high, we dis- 
turbed a good many cormorants, who were resting on some points 
of the cliff, and basking with open wings in the morning sun, 
Some parts of the rocks were quite white with the dung of these 
birds. In the ivy-covered recesses, far up, were every here and 
there a pair of small hawks, and rabbits hopping about high over 
our heads, along narrow paths on the face of the rock. I shot 
a rabbit at a great height with a rifle, and he came tumbling 
over and over, till he finally fell right into a hawk’s nest, to the 
great astonishment of the young birds. Innumerable jackdaws 
breed in every crevice. As we rowed farther on, we came 
opposite a large cave, which the boatmen told me was a great 
place of resort for the pigeons. So, stopping our course, the 
men shouted; and out came a large flock of these birds, flying 
directly over our heads. I killed two or three, and the rest flew 
on, winding round the angles and headlands of the coast with 
inconceivable rapidity. Having picked up the birds, I landed 
with great difficulty on the rocks, and making my way over the 
slippery seaweed, got into the cave, which extended some dis- 
tance under the cliffs. There were several pigeons’ nests, though 
none that I could get at; but I shot a couple of young ones that 
had left the nest. The reverberation that succeeded the report 
of the gun in the arched cave nearly deafened me. 
Soon afterwards we landed at another point ; and here, follow- 
ing the example of one of my crew, I crept through a small 
