272 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



the two high notes which the Coal and Great Tits make 

 use of continually at the beginning of their alarm call. 



A pair of Redstarts had their nest near to the hollow 

 tree, and sometimes appeared to watch the scene with 

 anxiety. Life there was in plenty in the forest. From 

 a tree near the clear wild song of a Missel Thrush was 

 thrown out over the wood. Nearer at hand a shy Willow 

 Warbler — that bird of most graceful and delicate appear- 

 ance — was singing to himself in melodious, warbling notes 

 as he fluttered among the pine needles in his quest for 

 insects. At times the less melodious, yet interesting, 

 song of the Tree Pipit came from one of the higher firs, 

 the bird often leaving his perch to flutter up into the air 

 and soar earthward in characteristic flight. At times 

 also Black-headed Gulls crossed overhead, uttering their 

 sharp call notes, and a Goosander flew rapidly northward, 

 following the course of the burn. Near by was a very 

 old dead stump fifteen feet or so in height, where a pair 

 of crested titmice had their nest for several years in suc- 

 cession ; but though the working of the birds was visible 

 on the trunk, the nesting site was unoccupied. It should 

 be mentioned that, unlike the Blue or Great Tits, the 

 Crested Titmouse often fashions a hole for itself in a 

 decayed tree. It is thus of considerable importance to 

 the small worker that the wood should be in the right 

 condition. A tree which is crumbling is discarded after 

 a test of its suitability has been made, also one which is 

 too hard for the small bill to drive its way into. One 

 often comes across such commencements of nesting sites 

 in the forest ; sometimes the tree has been abandoned 

 after considerable impression has been made on the wood. 



It is during April that the new nesting hollows are 

 formed or former ones refurnished, and the eggs are laid 

 during the first week of May. A stalker told me that 

 on one occasion he noticed that the hen Titmouse laid 



