oft
their offerings of glistening water and snowy foam.

Fingal, the hero from whom the cave takes its name, was a mighty man of
renown in the legendary days of both Scotland and Ireland. He figures in
the poems of Ossian, as well as in Gaelic ballads as Fion or Fion na
Gael, and no other lore has ever been so dear to the peasants of these
countries as the record of the marvellous deeds of Fingal.

Another remarkable cave in Staffa is 'Clam-shell Cave,' which is of
immense size. It is really a huge fissure in the cliff, of which one
side is wonderfully like the ribs of a ship or the markings on a
clam-shell. This appearance is the result of immense pillars of basalt
crossing the rock in even lines.

A rough iron stairway has been put up the cliff to enable visitors to
look into the cave from above.

The 'Boat Cave' is smaller than that of Fingal, but the basaltic
formation is even more regular: this cavern runs for one hundred and
fifty feet, and is about twelve feet broad.

Indeed the whole coast of Staffa is studded with caves, into some of
which a boat can enter when the water is smooth, but this is not of very
frequent occurrence on this storm-beaten coast.

HELENA HEATH.

[Illustration: The Teal.]

THE TEAL.

What is the Teal? It is a bird once plentiful in many parts of Britain
from which it has now vanished, owing to the draining of marshes and the
cultivation of coast-lands, for it loves watery places. Being a notable
species of the duck tribe, it is a prize to the hunter of wild-fowl. Not
only is the bird thought a delicacy, but when the hunter comes upon a
party of them he can generally manage to secure several. It is a shy
bird, avoiding the abodes of mankind and large ponds or rivers. What it
likes is a still, rushy pool, or some sluggish brook overhung with
vegetation. About the South of England it is seldom observed except in
winter; occasionally it keeps company with other wild ducks when the
weather is severe. Should one of them be alarmed by the approach of a
possible enemy, while it is on a brook, it usually flies up and skims
just above the water for some distance, when it will quietly settle near
the bank, or it may drop into the water and swim away rapidly.

In their appearance the male and female birds are very different. The
male teal is particularly handsome; the head is chestnut brown, having a
glossy patch on each side; the neck and back are black, pencilled with
grey; the