298 The Scottish Natttralist. 



under some spell. After watching its antics for a time, without 

 being observed, a well-directed stone made him speedily disap- 

 pear. Remaining perfectly still for several minutes longer, in the 

 hopes of his again showing himself, I was suddenly startled by a 

 bird springing up and taking wing from almost under my feet, 

 then another and another, followed by several more all around 

 me. I then discovered, to my surprise, that I had been sitting 

 in the very middle of a covey of Ptarmigan. There was now no 

 difficulty in accounting for the eccentricities of the polecat. 



90. Perdix cinerea, Linn. (Partridge.) 



Owing to the much greater extent of cultivation in the High- 

 lands than formerly, the Partridge has become, within the last 

 fifty years, very much more abundant in all the upper valleys 

 and higher grounds, extending even to the very edge of the 

 moors, where I have seen them associating with Grouse, and 

 even mixed in the same covey. This mixed covey was fre- 

 quently seen, during the greater part of the season, on one of 

 the hills opposite to Pitlochrie, and was supposed to have been 

 hatched in the same nest, — a hen Grouse having probably usurped 

 that of a Partridge, or vice versa. In low-lying districts in the 

 Carse of Gowrie, from drainage and the filling in of the ditches 

 causing a scarcity of water, the Partridge is much scarcer than it 

 was wont to be, and has, in consequence, now betaken itself a 

 good deal more to the braes and hillsides. 



CoTURNix coiNiMUNis, Gould. (Common Quail.) 



From what cause it is difficult to explain, unless it be from 

 drainage, but the Qunil, which some forty or fifty years ago was 

 a regular visitant, and by no means an uncommon bird, breed- 

 ing in the Carse of Gowrie and Lower Strathearn, has now, 

 with the exception of an occasional straggler, almost entirely 

 disappeared from the district. In those times, upwards of three 

 couple have been shot in a single day. The last nest known 

 to me in the Carse of Gowrie was in the summer of 1832, and 

 since then the bird has scarcely ever been seen : I have there- 

 fore thought it better not to retain it on the list, but treat it as a 

 mere casual. 



91. Ardea cinerea, Linn. (Heron.) 



The Heron seems to be widely spread, though sparingly, 

 throughout tlie whole district, being a good deal kept under 

 by gamekeepers, on account of its great destruction of trout 



