42 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



way the Ptarmigan of the lower hills were more 

 unfortunate than their brethren of the higher ranges, 

 as the former had begun to lay, and even perhaps 

 to sit, while those on the higher mountains had 

 not yet reached this stage. On visiting a mountain 

 under 3,000 feet high at the beginning of June, 



THE PTARMIGAN'S HOME-BRAE RIACH AND THE SOURCE 

 OF THE DEE. 



most of the Ptarmigan were going in pairs, and 

 once I saw three together, showing what havoc the 

 storm had played among their nests. In fact, twice 

 I found an egg laid on the hillside, showing that 

 the hen bird had been unable to find her nest in 

 the snow, and so had been obliged to drop her 

 egg anywhere. The Golden Plover had suffered as 

 badly, and I saw a flock of as many as twenty. 

 It is a fact worth recording that in such cases the 



