208 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



to see a family of no less than seven Carrion Crows, of evil 

 and forbidding mien, rise from the hill before us and fly- 

 unsuspiciously away. Such a sight would have stirred 

 the most stoical Grouse-preserver, for no Carrion or Hooded 

 Crow is tolerated where the Red Bird is shot. For three 

 miles our way led us up the strath, then, striking off to 

 the right, we commenced our climb. The sun shone with 

 great heat as we gradually left the glen below us. Before 

 us lay a great corrie, with dark crags leading down into a 

 small bum far beneath them. Here the Peregrine has 

 his eyrie, and during the season when we visited the glen, 

 a pair of the Falcons had nested close to the ledge of 

 rock where a Raven had successfully brought off her 

 young earlier in the season. The young Corbies had, in all 

 probability, already left the nest before the Falcon scraped 

 her primitive hollow and deposited her handsome eggs, 

 otherwise it must have been a circumstance well worthy 

 of record that Falcon and Raven should thus have nested 

 side by side in harmony. On the lower slopes of the hill 

 bird life was almost non-existent, save for a Meadow Pipit 

 which fluttered off its nest before us, and literally tumbled 

 down the hill in its efforts to distract our attention. 



It was not till we had reached an elevation of close on 

 2500 feet that we heard the first pipe of a watchful Fcadag. 

 And now from all sides we heard such cries, borne across 

 on the breeze from the higher grounds. One Golden 

 Plover by his behaviour led me to suspect that even at 

 this late season his mate was still brooding on eggs, for 

 as we passed he merely called a few times without changing 

 his position, then lapsed into silence. If his brood had 

 been in the neighbourhood, I think he must have showed 

 more anxiety. Not once, but several times, we heard 

 a Golden Plover uttering his characteristic love-song, 

 and noted the singer as he moved rapidly over the 

 hill plateau. Here we stood at an elevation of close on 



