. The birds of Iona & Mull. Birds. 56 THE BIRDS OF lONA AND MULL. or in any way to interfere with the foul fiend' Unfortunately I was a day too late last year. I hope the vengeful spirit of the desecrated nest overtook - ^ ^ the fishermen with a good ducking before they got home and a foul wind ever after! I despaired of the Kavens returning; but yesterday the old shepherd (whose heart I had just enlarged by the presenta-. fu^ tion of six inches of pigtail) informed me that the fia,ch, or Eavens, had nearly finished building their nest in the old place. I hope that I may get them if all go
. The birds of Iona & Mull. Birds. 56 THE BIRDS OF lONA AND MULL. or in any way to interfere with the foul fiend' Unfortunately I was a day too late last year. I hope the vengeful spirit of the desecrated nest overtook - ^ ^ the fishermen with a good ducking before they got home and a foul wind ever after! I despaired of the Kavens returning; but yesterday the old shepherd (whose heart I had just enlarged by the presenta-. fu^ tion of six inches of pigtail) informed me that the fia,ch, or Eavens, had nearly finished building their nest in the old place. I hope that I may get them if all goes right, even though it should be necessary to take a basin of holy water from St Columba's cell to dash into the nest and dislodge the deil from his eggs. Collecting eggs, however, is as uncertain and full of disappoint- ment as even wild-fowl shooting, and this is why I speak so cautiously in the list I have just written; for many of these eggs, though very plentiful at the islands, must be procured at exactly the right time, and from the uncertainty of the weather it is not always possible to get them. Last year, for instance, being a week too late, out of nearly every Puffin's and Black. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Graham, Henry Davenport, l825-1872. Edinburgh, D. Douglas
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1890
