I 



1882-83.] Edinburgh NaUiralists' Field Chib. 93 



company. In fact, so pertinacious are they at times, that they will 

 follow a person for a mile and more, every now and again swooping 

 unexpectedly down so close to the head as to make one tremble for 

 the safety of his eyesight. In this wild district also the Redshank 

 and Peewit were busily engaged in the same object of propagating 

 the species. 



There is a certain indescribable charm about muirland scenery, 

 especially when associated with its bird-life, that must have struck 

 one who has passed any time amid such scenes, — whether owing 

 to the complete solitude and desolate aspect, the antithesis of the 

 livelier woodland or cultivated country, or to the strange wild cries 

 of the feathered species, or to both combined, would be diiEcult to 

 determine. Somehow or other, we always associate the " eerie " 

 calls of the Peewit, Whaup, and Plover with bleak and barren 

 country, although we know that for a great part of the year the 

 muirs are deserted by these birds. Yet whatever the reason, it 

 seems more natural to our minds to couple them together. Curi- 

 ously enough, the weirdest and most melodious sounds are often 

 heard in close proximity, as the melancholy whistle of the Plover 

 or the complaining cry of the Lapwing mingle with the song of 

 the Skylark and Meadow-pij^it, which frequently choose the same 

 locality for their nesting-ground. Another bird whose home lies 

 among the muirs or the hilly slopes bordering on them is the Ring- 

 ousel, perhaps the most interesting of all the Turdida3 or Thrushes. 

 Distinguished from its congener the Blackbird by the browner tint 

 of plumage, and the white crescent on the breast, it has yet a good 

 deal in common with its near relative, the skulking habits and call 

 of alarm being somewhat similar. But there the likeness, except 

 in a few minor points, ends, as in choice of habitation it is widely 

 different. Where broom or juniper -bushes cover the mountain- 

 slopes, the Ring-ousel may generally be found, one pair seeming to 

 monopolise a considerable tract to themselves. But perhaps a more 

 usvial place of abode, in the Highlands at least, is on the heathery 

 hillsides or the rugged banks of an upland burn, where, under the 

 protecting shelter of an overhanging rock or heather bush, the nest 

 is often placed. For some time after their arrival in April, no 

 birds are wilder or more difficult to approach. You may at a 

 respectful distance see the pair sitting on a knoll or rock keeping 

 a sharp look-out ; but attempt to draw near, and off" they fly to 

 some other point of vantage, where they can scan the neighbour- 

 hood and avoid the apprehended danger. To follow them up when 

 once alarmed is useless, the experiment reqviiring a greater amount 

 of patience than has fallen to the lot of the average naturalist. But 

 after the eggs are laid or the young hatched, the desired view may 

 be much more readily obtained, their shyness disappearing in a 

 great measure. The song of the male, which is heard to the best 



VOL. I. G 



