ridiculous, and from Dan to Beersheba, from London to John O'Groat's, the cry was that it couldn't be, that it was impossible; one writer going so far in his scepticism as plainly to declare that "he would as soon believe that a bull had given birth to a calf." Much was the chaffing that we had to endure in connection with the subject, and our most intimate friends could hardly believe that we were serious in it at all. And yet we were perfectly in earnest; we had known the thing happen repeatedly, and since then a very fine cock goldfinch of our own, one of the best singers, too, we have ever heard, laid an egg in his cage which is still in our possession, and several of our correspondents having had their attention directed to the subject, have assured themselves that, not only is the thing possible, but in the case of the domestic cock at least, and of many cage-birds, of rather common occurrence. It is a very odd and curious thing, no doubt, and difficult of explanation, but there are thousands of undisputed facts in natural history in the same category, the existence of which is beyond all question, though the how, and why, and wherefore is a mystery. From our window, as we write these lines, we can see quite a fleet of herring boats sailing up Loch Linnhe on their return from the fishing stations at Barra, Lochmaddy, and the Lewis--a very pretty sight--not less than two hundred or more boats under full sail, stretching in one long line from Corran Ferry to the Sound of Mull, looking at this distance for all the world like the notes in a line of complicated printed music. CHAPTER XXV. Thunderstorm--Potato Field in Bloom--The Hazel Tree--Hazel Nuts--Potato Shaws for Cattle--Ferns for Bedding Cattle--Marmion--Scott.