BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 23 



but even then is not nearly so easy to photograph 

 as the Ptarmigan, which one can often stroke 

 without causing her to leave the nest. 



Last spring I discovered a hen Grouse brood- 

 ing on the exceptionally large clutch of eleven 

 eggs, and as she was sitting hard and I had 

 no camera with me, I returned next afternoon, 



GROUSE ON HER NEST. 



and after a long climb reached the nest, which 

 was situated high up the slopes of a mountain 

 well on to 3,000 feet in height. Unfortunately, the 

 position of the sitting bird was such that her head 

 was under the shadow of a neighbouring tuft of 

 grass ; so, although a good negative resulted, it 

 was almost impossible to make out the bird in the 

 print. But in natural history photography one 

 soon becomes resigned to all sorts of disappoint- 

 ments, and so I put the bird off her eggs and 



