8 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



Gulls. 



Though no species of Gull has, as yet, been known to breed in 

 the Forest, nevertheless a few adults of the Black-headed Gull 

 {Larus ridibundus), the Lesser Black-backed Gull {Larus fuscus 

 qffinis), the Herring Gull {Larus argentatus), and the Common 

 Gull {Larus canus) are more or less in evidence during the 

 summer season beside the lochs and on the moorlands of the 

 Forest. On the 15th of June 191 7 a pair of Common Gulls at the 

 Blackwater Loch were very noisy and behaved as if they had young 

 on one of the islands. 



Black-throated Diver, Colymbus arcticus. 



This is one of the scarcest birds in the Forest. Nevertheless, it 

 nests annually on moorland and hill lochs at elevations from 1300 

 to 2000 feet. In search of food it goes far afield, and regularly 

 visits other lochs, including some at lower elevations. It has been 

 recorded as having arrived at its nesting haunts as early as the 

 1st of March, has well-grown downy young towards the end of 

 June, and has remained in its summer quarters as late as the 16th 

 of October. 



Little Grebe, Podiccps fluviatilis. 



In 191 7 a pair took up summer quarters on a reedy moorland 

 loch at 1350 feet, and were observed there along with their tiny 

 chicks on the 15th of June. The birds may have bred on this same 

 loch in the past, but though it was often visited they were not 

 observed until this year. 



Corncrake, Crex crex. 



A pair of these birds seek a croft of grassland at the foot of 

 Loch Ossian in most years, and spend the summer and nest there 

 at 1300 feet. This species has not been observed elsewhere in the 

 Forest. It was first heard in 191 7 on the 17th of May. 



Waterhen, Gallinula chloropus. 



A resident species, fairly common and widely distributed. 

 In summer it nests on Loch Treig at 784 feet, on moorland lochs 

 at 1350, and occasionally, amid desolate surroundings, at a hill 

 lochan at 2060 feet. A few remain all the winter about the foot 

 of Loch Ossian at 1300 feet; and when their aquatic haunts are 

 sealed by ice they frequent the sides of frozen ditches and the 

 grassland, retiring to the adjoining plantations when disturbed. 



