106 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



has been discovered between the legs of a pony during a 

 halt for lunch, and on another occasion by a dog sitting 

 down on the mother bird. I remember on one occasion 

 discovering a Ptarmigan just as my foot was descending 

 right on the top of the unfortunate bird, who was crouch- 

 ing with eyes half closed beneath me. Even the collapse 

 of a heavy half-plate camera beside her has failed to 

 induce a Ptarmigan to leave her eggs, and I heard an 

 instance of a stalker removing an egg from the nest while 

 the bird was brooding. 



The nest is often placed in close proximity to a snow- 

 field, where, on hot sunny days, the hen bird probably 

 cools herself. On two occasions I have found a Ptarmi- 

 gan's nest beneath the shelter of a stone. The position 

 is unusual, and the birds may have had a definite idea 

 of protection in this sheltered site, for in one instance 

 Common Gulls daily patrolled the hillside, taking heavy 

 toll of unprotected eggs, and in the second case the nest 

 was only a few hundred yards from a Golden Eagle's 

 eyrie. That this precaution was not superfluous may 

 be gathered from the fact that I have more than once seen 

 a Ptarmigan's nest with some of the eggs lying outside. 

 This had, I imagine, been caused by the hurried fhght 

 of the birds, and the feather of an eagle lying near ex- 

 plained this quick departure — in one case, at all events. 

 On an average season and at a fair average elevation — 

 3000 feet — ^the first eggs are laid about May 20th, and 

 a week later incubation is commenced. During the 

 ensuing period the cock bird mounts guard on some 

 prominent boulder near by, and by repeatedly croaking 

 cries warns his mate of the approach of danger. 



When a cock Ptarmigan is flushed under these circum- 

 stances, he flies only a short distance — not infrequently 

 in a circle — before alighting on some rock and watching 

 the intruder with considerable anxiety. I remember once 



