The Land of the Hills and the Glens 



of the hill in fine weather, and a nest left unattended must 

 speedily lose its eggs. It is a well-known fact that in wild 

 stormy weather ptarmigan are restless and unapproachable, 

 whilst on calm days it is at times impossible to make them 

 take wing at all, so it would be of interest to know whether 

 the prevalence of wind and storm along the western seaboard 

 may not account for their habitual wariness there. 



It is a curious experience to one who knows well the 

 haunts beloved of the ptarmigan to search for hours among 

 the corries of, say, Ben More Mull, and not to see a single 

 one of these birds, nor to hear their cry. I remember that 

 the first time I crossed that hill I saw but one bird, a cock. 

 He was reluctant to rise, and I felt sure that he must have 

 a sitting mate near, yet when he did take wing he flew off 

 in silence, and continued unswervingly on his way until he 

 had crossed over the skyline — not the usual behaviour of a 

 ptarmigan whose sitting mate is near by. I searched, never- 

 theless, every foot of the ground, spending hours in the 

 neighbourhood, but I saw nothing to lead me to suspect that 

 a hen ptarmigan had her nest near. 



As regards the time of their nesting, I think this is, 

 perhaps, a few days earlier than on the Cairngorms, but 

 there is little difference. A point of interest is the fact that 

 on these western hills ptarmigan habitually live at a con- 

 siderably lower level than on the Cairngorms. There it is 

 worth while recording the fact if one of their nests is found 

 below the three thousand foot contour line, whereas in the 

 Island of Mull I doubt if any "tarmachan " nest at this 

 height — the highest hill on the island is less than 3,200 feet — 

 and the majority of the birds rear their broods at a height 

 of from 2,500 to 2,200 feet; in some cases even lower. 



I have wondered whether the ptarmigan of the Island 

 of Mull live on the same hill from one year's end to another, 

 or whether they may at times cross over to some of the 

 nearer hills of the mainland, to Cruachan, perhaps, or to 

 the high tops of the Lochaber country, where their tribe is 



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