90 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



of birds in other localities where guns are common, 

 being no more wary than these unsophisticated crows 

 of St. Kilda. The St. Kildans detest them, and 

 with good cause, for they commit sad havoc amongst 

 their fields and gardens, and are as keen " collectors " 

 of eggs as the men themselves. The Hooded Crow 

 is a far more sociable bird than the Carrion Crow, 

 and we have remarked them gregarious at all times 

 of the year. In winter, of course, they become 

 most so, and nowhere is this trait more apparent 

 than in the low-lying English counties. We shall 

 have occasion to meet with this interestinof bird in a 

 future chapter (conf. p. 276). This brief list practi- 

 cally exhausts the typical land birds and Passeres of 

 the mountains, with the sole exception of the charm- 

 ing; little Snow Buntino-. In not a few northern 

 English shires this species is a fairly well-known 

 winter migrant, but it breeds sparingly on some of 

 the Scottish mountains, a few pairs finding an 

 arctic climate by vertical instead of latitudinal migra- 

 tion, but most of its kindred journey far beyond our 

 limits to rear their young. 



Our last mountain bird is the Dotterel. But this 

 is a bird of passage from the south, resorting only to 

 the northern heights during summer. Unfortunately, 

 the species is not so common on our English moun- 

 tains as was formerly the case; its eggs are eagerly 

 sought by collectors; the bird itself is in great re- 



