448 Birds of tJie Great Glen. [Sess. 



was identified in 1866 and 1867 by Mr George Muirhead, 

 factor for the Earl of Aberdeen, and a well-known naturalist. 

 The crested tit does not exist, but, curiously enough, is fairly 

 plentiful on another of the Seafield estates — viz., Castle Grant, 

 in Strathspey. ISTot far from Balmacaan House there is a 

 lonely little burial-ground, surrounded by a few dark spruces, 

 and the whole hidden in a birch wood, where repose sundry 

 members of the Grant clan ; and close beside is a stagnant pool 

 of water edged by dwarfed bushes and rank vegetation, bear- 

 ing a Gaelic name that, when literally translated, is not such 

 as we would use in polite society, but for present purposes 

 may be rendered the Pool of Blood. Around this linger 

 legends of some desperate fights between rival clans, such as 

 disgraced the annals of ancient Scotland, and it is supposed 

 that the blood of the victims originally formed the pool. To- 

 day the scene is changed, and hallowed as the place is by the 

 near presence of the dead, not to mention historic associations, 

 there is no spot in the whole district where the ornithologist 

 can pursue his favourite study to such advantage. In early 

 morning and towards evening great numbers of small birds 

 come to drink or perform their ablutions, and one has nothing 

 to do but sit quietly down and watch the stream of lively 

 little beings constantly changing — halting for a few minutes 

 to flirt about the trees or descend to slake their thirst, only to 

 fly off and be succeeded by another batch on the same errand. 

 It is not overestimating the numbers to say that on a favour- 

 able day over forty species may be counted, and this does not 

 take into account the odd birds that might happen to pass 

 casually. Tits, creepers, finches, goldcrests, siskins, bull- 

 finches, greenfinches, warblers, all take their tu.rn, besides red- 

 poles, swallows, buntings, and others that it is needless to 

 recapitulate. 



A very common species here is the siskin — a most engaging 

 bird, and exceedingly easy to tame in confinement. Some 

 seasons great numbers incubate in the glen among the fir 

 plantations, but the nest is hard to find, being usually laid 

 upon the upper portion of a spruce branch, so that it is com- 

 pletely concealed from below by the density of the needle-like 

 foliage, and unless one can reach a point where the tree may 

 be looked down upon^ search is mostly unavailing. No 



