breeding in Scotland. 339 



woods at Dunkeld ; and, observing the old one carrying some- 

 thing in its claws, I gave a shout, supposing that it was a 

 hawk, for the purpose of making it drop what I then took for 

 its prey. It had the desired effect: the object fell, and I 

 immediately ran and picked up a young and ill-fledged wood- 

 cock, which, like some poor sickly infant, had become but the 

 more anxious mother's more anxious care. She alighted and 

 rose repeatedly around me, with that wonderful and admirable 

 instinct (so like the reasoning power) which is displayed by 

 wild ducks, partridges, and some other birds, pretending to 

 be wounded, to withdraw my attention from her young. 



It is highly probable, that woodcocks may thus gradually 

 become naturalised to our summer climate, especially if, like 

 salmon, swallows, and many other creatures, they form a 

 predilection for their native districts, and return to them at 

 the breeding season. 



While upon this subject, I may add that the woodcock is 

 not the only migratory bird that now occasionally breeds in 

 this kingdom. For several years past fieldfares have bred in 

 Scotland, a circumstance, I believe, altogether unheard of 

 amongst old observers of nature. In the spring of 1835, while 

 walking in the park of Mr. Scott of Gala, in Selkirkshire, I 

 was surprised on seeing, so late in the season, a large flock of 

 fieldfares chattering from tree to tree; when a gentleman who 

 was with me, and who is remarkable for his acute observations 

 on the habits of birds, asked me if I had ever seen their nests ; 

 offering to show me several within a very short distance. I 

 gladly availed myself of this opportunity of seeing what was 

 to me a new object, but which my friend had observed in that 

 district for two or three years preceding. The nests were 

 all placed in the clefts of trees, often at a considerable height 

 from the ground, and very different from the situation spoken 

 of by the poet who, in describing the blanched bones of the 

 battle field, makes the human skull a fitting hollow for the 

 fieldfare's nest. 



It is a fine object, to observe the female of this large bird 

 seated fearlessly on her nest, her long tail projecting upwards, 

 and her large and mild black eye watching confidently the 

 movements of those at hand. We stood for several minutes, 

 in admiration of one in the cleft of a low dwarf apple tree in 

 the garden ; and, being desirous of seeing the nest and eggs, 

 it was not without almost pushing her off her nest, that I could 

 induce her to quit it for a few minutes, to gratify my curiosity. 



I have, since, seen a nest of the same bird in Kent : but, in 

 districts where the large mistletoe thrush is found, it requires 

 some care to distinguish between the two; for both birds 



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