CHAP, XXIII.] FINDHORN HERONRY. 139 
he will follow the example of his predecessor in the vlace, who 
was washed away one fine day from the rock, and not found for 
some days, when his body was taken out of the river several 
miles below. In these pools (every one of which has a name) 
you will see some sportsman angling, not like the sans-culotte 
shepherd’s boy at Coignafern, with his hazel-wand and line 
made by himself, but here you have a well-equipped and well- 
accoutred follower of the gentle craft in waterproof overalls, 
and armed with London rod and Dublin fly, tempting the 
salmon from their element with a bright but indefinable mixture 
of feathers, pigs’-wool, and gold thread; while his attendant, 
stretched at his ease, wonders at the labour his master under- 
takes, and watches quietly the salmon as he rises from some dark 
abyss of the water, poises himself fora moment steadily opposite 
the glittering hook, makes a dash rapid as thought at it, and 
then swims slowly back to his ambuscade in the depth of the 
water, not aware, till he feels the jerk of the line, that he is 
carrying with him, not a painted dragon-fly, but a carefully 
prepared and strong weapon of death, which he will only get 
quit of with his life. The nets are at work too, sweeping a 
deep and quiet pool, but seldom with much success, owing to 
the inequalities of the bottom of the river. Making a wide 
turn here, the river passes by an object of great interest, the 
Findhorn heronry, a collection of these birds quite unique in 
their way. They have taken possession of a number of old 
trees growing on the Darnaway side of the river, and here, year 
after year, they repair their old nests and bring up their young, 
not frightened away by the frequenters of a walk which passes 
immediately under their nests. Numbers of the old birds may 
be seen sitting motionless on the dead branches, or perched on 
the very topmost twig of a larch or birch-tree. 
Sometimes the peregrine, on his way to Sluie, passes quickly 
through the midst of the community, while a constant chattering 
is kept up by the numberless jackdaws who breed in holes of the 
rock on the Altyre side, and keep flying in and out from far 
below the spot where you are standing. Far as you can see, 
and indeed still farther, are stretched the forests of Darnaway 
and Altyre. Following the river, or rather keeping the top of 
the bank above it, a new and most striking view meets your eye. 
