108 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



Magpie {Pica rustica). 

 Only occurs as a straggler, and I do not know of any 

 instance where they have built for many years, their raids 

 among the eggs of game birds being their death-warrant on 

 every occasion. 



Jay {G-arrulns glandarius). 



Seems now to be extinct, although it must have occurred 

 at one time, as stuffed specimens shot on the estate are to be 

 seen in Balmacaan House, the residence of the proprietor, 

 the Earl of Seafield. 



Great Tit [Parus major). 



Not so common as its smaller allies, but still fairly abun- 

 dant. Like the blue tit, it prefers the woods in the low 

 grounds to those on the hill-sides, and is to be seen in 

 greatest abundance in the plantations around Balmacaan 

 House, and in a thick tangled stretch of wood, used as a 

 game preserve, running inwards from the shores of Loch 

 Ness, It is even more pugnacious than its lesser brethren, 

 and bites most furiously when caught. Like the robin, it 

 has a knack of alighting on the limed twigs used by bird- 

 catchers ; and on those occasions when it finds itself deprived 

 of the power to fly off, it gives utterance to a continued and 

 angry chattering, and even after it is restored to liberty, it 

 still lingers about the locality venting its complaints. 



Blue Tit (Parus coerideus). 



The most beautifully plumaged of all the tits, and I think 

 I am correct in saying, the most familiarised to the jDresence 

 of man. 



One day during early spring I was attracted, while stand- 

 ing in a fir wood, by a tolerably loud tapping noise close 

 at hand, which I might have taken for that of the woodpecker 

 had I not known that the bird did not exist in Glen- 

 urquhart, until, after waiting silently for a long time en- 

 deavouring to ascertain tlie cause, I at last discovered a blue 

 tit, who all the while had been close at my elbow, hammering 



