2
aud pointed limbs, may bar the passage, and a circuitous course will have to be falcon in order to avoid such
i in practical de obstacles. Being screened from nearly every breath of wind, the atmosphere in sultry weather is
almost stilling: clouds of poisonous midges aud ilies in myriads buzz aud hum around one's head; to rest is
otlerly impossible, the incessant attacks of the insects preventing all attempts at peace aud quietness. Those
who have struggled to fbe haunls of the Osprey in those localities will, I am afraid, bear away few pleasing
memories of their visit to the district.
As a rule, these birds return to some old and wealher-brnten nest, which is generally put slightly into
repair on their first arrival, before the eggs are laid. This is not, however, always t he ease, as I ouce observed
a female on a nest, which, when examined, appeared to have been untouched for at least a twelvemonth.
The eggs were on a soft carpet of moss, green and perfectly alive, covering entirely in one mass t h e whole
foundation of sticks, and showing plainly thai no additions could have been made that season.
I n some of the forests and ou t h e strictly-preserved estates they may still be found so numerous, that
two, or even three, breeding-stations might lie visited in the course of a single day. In the more open
districts, where strangers are allowed to wander as they think fit, the poor Osprey has either entirely
disappeared, or is only an occasional visilor to those regions where formerly, during the whole of the summer
season, h e was sure to be found " at home."
The fact that the present species holds its own simply where its safety is gunrded by foresters or
keepers, is one answer to the argumeuts of those ranting sentimentalists who preach ngaiust all preserving,
urging that every living creature is sacrificed to make way fur game, aud strongly recommending that
keepers should Ik' abolished and the lialauce of nature restored. No sane person, however, can have the
slightest doubt, if such an undesirable state or affairs ever came to pass, that not only game, but every speeies
of bird that at present adds such a c h a rm to the wildest scenes would speedily disappear before what these
purveyors of twaddle would term the advance of civilization. Notwithstanding all that has been written or
said against him, the gamekeeper and bis assistants are t h e greatest protectors t o the whole of the feathered
tribe.
The nests in the more northern districts were, with few exceptions, formerly placed on rocks or Large
slalis of stone in the freshwater lochs. I have visited at different times several of these localities; but hi
every ease t h e eyrie was deserted, and at most only a few sticks remained to mark the spot. In one instance,
on an island in a loch hi the midst of a very »ild anil desolate stretch of country, I found on a low bush, or rather,
if I remember right, an old twisted bireh-stuuip, at the height of not more than four or five feet from the ground,
n very large nest, wdiieh was said to have been formerly built by these birds. Although the structure still held
together, it was evident it bad not been used for many years; but the size of the sticks and the substantial
manner in which it had been put together prevented it from falling to pieces. I have frequently observed the
remains of other old nests, almost similarly placed, in various sI.ili's of preservation, when I have visited the
islands in some of the remote hill-loebs. In several cases I think it was doubtful tt hether the former occupants
had been of this species or the Si-a-Eaglc.
Those who have ever rend the graphic account given by the late Charles St. John of his adventures in the
Northern Highlands will readily call to mind the description of bow his friend Dunbar gallantly swam out to
the rocks ou which the Ospreys* nests were placed. To reach the islands in this manner was entirely beyond
my powers; so I used for this purpose, and also to search the shores, which were in many parts quite unapproachable
from the marshy character of the ground, an india-rubber boat, which is a most handy invention,
lieing easily carried in a small pack, and taking barely five minutes to get ready to go afloat. The labour
of dragging the ordinary boats of the country to some of the required spots, many miles from even the
roughest tracks, would be an undertaking of the greatest difficulty. Ou freshwater lochs 1 have never met
with the slightest mishap ; aud by carrying a life-belt, one ought to be safe if by any chance the air csca^ied.
Ifow its extreme buoyancy would enable it towllhstand a heavy squall, I cannot state from my own eiperl * ;
but I only just missed an opportunity of satisfying myself on this point on Loch Maree, in ltossshire, while
rowing out to look at the islands, on which Here stated to be a couple of trees formerly resorted to by one or two
pairs of Ospreys. The birds themselves had long been banished, and the objiscl of my visit was only to inspect
t h e locality, and compare the trees with others thai I had seen used by this species. I was within a stone's
throw of one of the islands, when, happening to east my eye to windward, I noticed that, at the distance or
aboul a mile, a regular whirlwind had caught up the water into a cloud of spray, which with irresistible force
was rapidly drifting across the loch. In less than a dozen strokes I was ashore; and lifting the boat on to the
bank, I made the painter fast round a tree, and bringing if back lashed it round the seat, llelbre I ooald gain
a place of shelter the storm had burst; and the first force of (he squall carried the boat straight out bom the
tree to the foil extent of the line, and dashed it to and fro till one of the lashings parted, when the wind
fortunately lulled almost as rapidly as it had risen. In the larger lochs among the bills there Is always a
chance thai such storms may arise; and what their effect upon the boat would be, I can only conjecture. I,
however, always console myself by the reflection that even although capsized, if one can but hang to the boat
by means of the life-lines (which are rigged round the sides after the manner of a lifeboat), sooner or later
one must be blown to land. The only danger in this case would be the chance of a rocky shore. I havu
noticed that large slabs of stone and sharp and jagged rocks, extending a considerable distance into the water,
surround some of the islands among the inland Highland lochs; and if driven ou such a coasl, I fancy both
boat and crew would suffer a heavy amount of damage before a lauding could In' effected. One hundred yards
or so further north of the point where I OHM ashore fbere is much such I spot.
The ruins of uu old castle on Loch Assynf, which were stated formerly to have been on an island, although
now joined to the northern shore, were pointed out as having been used as a breeding-station by the
Osprey; but the greater part of the nest had disappeared, even at the time of my first visit to the locality,
now nearly fifteen years ago. While passing along ihe shores of tin1 loch only a few months, back, I noticed
a single Osprey, apparently an old bird, Hying in a westerly direction along the water-side, Many miles
further south, ou the old castle on Loch an Elian, a nest in n tolerably good state of repair may still lw
observed; hut although a bird or two now and then alights and rests for a short time on the building, it is
some years since it has been resorted to for breeding-purposes.
All the nests now occupied that I have visited during the last few years have been placed on trees, and,
without a single exception, the birds bad chosen Scotch firs. Iu two or three cases the nest was placed on tho
highest branches, which were twisted and growing downwards towards their extremities, giving almost the
impression that tho growth of the Ins- had been influenced by the weight of the nest. If the same spot was
resorted to for many seasons in succession, such a result might possibly be brought aboul. In one instance
I believe the tree has been made use of regularly, while another is only one of several different eyries to
which the birds occasionally return, some years taking up their quarters at one spot, and the next changing to
another. Eor tho last twenty or thirty years they have never been known to choose an entirely new situation.
Within a distance of twelve or fifteen miles nearly a dozen nests in various stages of repair may still bo
seen ; but It is seldom if ever that more than a couple of pair will be round breeding over the whole range.
I n one instance an immense spreading lir is resorted to (one of the largest ami finest tries in the forest) ;
here the nest is placed among the lower branches, at a height or about liflccn feet; it is seldom that I have
seen them at a much greater elevation—twenty or twenty-live and (in two instances only) about thirty feet,
the latter being the highest I have ever noticed.
The manner of building seems to vary considerably. 1 have MOD MOM nests only aboul a foot and a half
or, at most, two feet thick, and nearly nine or ten feet across. I never measured one accurately, hut will
remember that, alter having climbed up the tree and stretched out my hand, I discovered, when bending over