258 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



*Waterhen, and Curlew, as nesting birds ; and the Snow- 

 Bunting as an autumn and winter visitor. 



When, however, the 3000 feet contour line is crossed we 

 find that the species haunting this, the very highest ground 

 of the Forest, are comparatively few, and comprise only the 

 Fox, Stoat, Mountain-Hare, Field- Vole, Red Deer, Wheatear, 

 Meadow-Pipit, and *Ptarmigan. 1 



II. The Subalpine Zone comprises the area lying 

 between the 2000 and 1000 feet contour lines. It consists of 

 fells ; mountain sides ; expansive moorlands ; rough marshy 

 and peaty flats, clothed with a mixture of heather and 

 grass, and dotted with a number of shallow lochans ; and 

 extensive woodlands. Here, too, is the beauteous Loch 

 Ossian (1269 feet); also Lochs Ghuilbin (1200 feet), Black- 

 water (1025 feet), and na Lap (1930 feet). At the lower 

 end and on the margin of Loch Ossian, amid delightful 

 surroundings, is the Lodge, completed in 1897, with its 

 attractive gardens and shrubberies, the latter now the home 

 of a number of bird-colonists induced to settle there, includ- 

 ing the *Blackbird, *Redbreast, *Hedge-Accentor, *House- 

 Sparrow, and possibly some *Chafrlnches. This belt, with 

 its remarkable variety of congenial haunts, and its enticing 

 conditions generally, is naturally the main stronghold of 

 animal life in the Forest, and no fewer than eighty-six 

 species of mammals and birds have been observed within its 

 boundaries. 



The mammals which have their retreats here include, 

 besides all those already mentioned for the Alpine Zone, 

 the Pipistrelle Bat, Mole, Common Shrew, Hedgehog (one 

 record only), Weasel, Bank-Vole, Long-tailed Field Mouse, 

 Rabbit, and Roe-Deer. The Red Deer descends to it for 

 winter quarters. 



Birds are specially abundant and interesting : on the 

 fells and higher ground are to be found the *Hooded Crow, 

 Meadow-Pipit, Ring-Ouzel, Wheatear, *Tawny Owl, *Pere- 



1 Precise data relating to the altitudinal range, faunal status, and 

 other information relating to these and the rest of the species to be 

 presently treated of for other zones will be furnished in the list which will 

 form the final section of this contribution. 



