2 The Birds of Perthshire. [Sess, 



After the first two of our party got safely across, the ponies 

 were turned into the river, which they crossed themselves 

 and brought over other two of the party. The ponies how- 

 ever refused to go back themselves for the remaining two 

 of the party, and one of us had to mount and lead the " fiery 

 untamed " across. After all had crossed safely we proceeded 

 a short distance, left the ponies, and began to climb the hill 

 — somewhat steep, especially when carrying a half -plate 

 photographic outfit. On reaching the top I looked over the 

 precipice, and observed a fox " basking " on the face of the 

 rock. I beckoned to the rest of the party, and we had a 

 good look at Eeynard, who, on learning that he was observed, 

 leisurely trotted along the face of the rock, and was soon lost 

 to view. We were wading up to the knees in snow on some 

 parts of the hill. On consulting our chart we found we were 

 not far from the nest ; and after a short search we succeeded 

 in finding it, but we also found that it had not been tenanted 

 this season. The eagle is strictly preserved by the proprietor. 



We now turned our faces homewards, lunched at the foot 

 of the hill, and crossed the river as before. We came across 

 the bleached remains of several red deer, and noted a pair of 

 goosanders flying up the river. We now saw several herds 

 of deer coming down from the hilltops, and were told this 

 was a sign of rough weather. I intended taking several 

 views of the district, and had just got my camera erected 

 when a blinding snowstorm came on. However, I managed 

 to take a group as a souvenir of our visit. Luckily we were 

 not far from where our conveyance was stabled, and getting 

 into it we soon reached the residence of our host, and did 

 ample justice to his Highland hospitality. 



I visited the locality again in July, and will show a 

 few slides of what I saw then. I was much struck by the 

 way in which the jay manages to exist, in spite of all manner 

 of persecution. Johns, in his ' British Birds,' says : " There 

 exists among gamekeepers a custom of selecting a certain spot 

 in preserved woods, and there suspending, as trophies of their 

 skill and watchfulness, the bodies of such destructive animals 

 as they have killed in pursuit of their calling. They are 

 generally those of a few stoats, magpies, cats, jays, &c. All 

 these are judged by the keeper to be destructive to game, and 



