200 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
two districts, and had its nest annuaUy in two places. 
One of these was on a precipice in a wild glen m Eskdale, 
called the Garwald Grains ; the other situation was chosen 
with much of that touch of reflection that we sometimes 
observe among birds, as well as others of the lo-'^^^'^^ J- 
There is a smaU rocky islet, almost even ^"th the water 
Tn Loch Skene, which is surrounded with the highes^ 
mountains south of the Forth; and, although the side of 
Te of these mountains, that overhangs the lake is rocky 
and seemingly inaccessible, the eagles chose have their 
nest on the islet in the loch, because, forsooth, the loch 
craig could be approached by ropes from above, while it 
is almost impossible to convey a boat to the loch, and there 
never was one there."* This description w'ls commented 
on bj William Macgillivray, then conductor of the Ed^rAvrgh 
Tou'Jof Natural History^ and W. L." replied on Ma^^ 
24th 1837 • " The conductor of the Edinburgh Journal thinks 
ft bekoves him to observe : ' Now, we would have naturahsts 
to think a httle before they state a fact and be sparmg o 
theory. A boat hns been conveyed to the loch, and the eagle 
of the district are extinct. The side of the mountam that 
overhangs the lake is a rocky slope of less than 40 degrees and 
::rtainly does not afford a spot to which a person withou 
a rope might not approach to withm 10 yards. Eagles 
often make their nests in very insecure places, etc. . . 
W L., the afore-mentioned old correspondent of Lou^ s 
Magazine, acknowledges that he has not seen Loch Skene 
17 Loch Craig or the White Coon^e, these many jea 
but he has, however, been many times ^^ere along w th 
various companions, and with various views. He angled 
around the loch, been on the top of the Loch Craig, and at the 
foot of it, and seen it from the brow of the neighbourmg 
mountain of White Coome, and from ^he i^-^-JJ-g^?^ 
that dark ridge that separates the glen of th^ Ettnck from 
Moffatdale ; and always considered the Loch Craig of Pol- 
* Mag. Nat. Hist., 1837, Vol. I., p. 119. 
t Edin. Joum. Nat. Hist., 1837, Vol. I., p. 91. 
