OF SUTHERLAND AND CAITHNESS. 
25 
throated divers may often be seen, and their nest found close to 
the edge ; nor are they particular as to the size of the lochans, as we 
have seen them in one not more than 25 j'ards long by about 15 
broad. In the shallow pools, great bunches of the pretty " cotton 
grass " grow, and plants of it are also scattered all through the flow 
district. This grass, which is locally termed by the shepherds 
"mossing," is of great importance to the sheep-farmers, because, 
being the first grass that starts up in spring, it is of great service 
in helping the sheep to get into condition after the long winter. 
These flows are here and there intersected by deep, black, peaty 
water-courses, and these lead into the sluggish burns (whose edges 
are covered with good grass), which in turn meander lazily along, 
until, as they approach their outlets, they gain more rapidity and 
vigour. In the drier parts of the flow, heather grows, much inter- 
mixed with reindeer moss and different sorts of lichens. Grouse 
inhabit the drier places, and on the bare hillocks the golden 
plovers have their nests. Gulls of different species breed on the 
flows, but, owing to incessant persecution, are much rarer than 
formerly (i.e. those that are destructive to game or sheep), such as 
the herring gull and the great and lesser black-backed gulls. If, 
in any of these larger " brulochans " we find a particularly boggy 
island, almost inaccessible, owing to deep mud and shallow water, 
there is often a colony of black-headed gulls nesting, and a pair or 
two of ducks, teal, widgeon, or, less commonly, coots. The wet 
flows themselves are the abode of the dunlin ; and the wild-goose, 
though much rarer now than formerly, places her nest in a dry 
tuft of heather. 
The greatest flow district is situated in the northern part of 
the parishes of Kildonan and Clyne, the central part of the parish 
of Farr, and the southern part of the parish of Eeay, the ground 
getting drier by the drainage of the rivers of these districts as we 
approach the coast. 
Having now given a general outline of the physical features 
of the land of our eastern division, we come next to speak of the 
rivers and lochs. 
The rivers included present in most cases a very different 
