BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 115 



I hope that all bird lovers will do what they can 

 for the better protection of these charming visitors, 

 as I fear that unless the eggs are protected, the 

 Lesser Tern will in a few years have ceased to 

 exist as a Scottish breeding species, and we shall 

 have lost one of the most fascinating of our birds. 



THE COMMON GULL 



WHILE in most districts these handsome members of 

 the Gull family nest on the coast, in Aberdeenshire, 

 strange to say, they choose as nesting sites the 

 highest mountain tarns, and rear their young with 

 the Golden Eagle and Ptarmigan as their near 

 neighbours. 



There is one lonely mountain loch that I know 

 well, lying at a height of nearly 3,000 feet above 

 the sea, which is a favourite nesting haunt of the 

 species. At this great altitude the spring is very 

 backward and the surface of the loch is usually 

 frozen hard until well on in April. Once, on the 

 i6th of that month, while on my way to the loch, 

 I noticed a flock of Gulls flying at a great height, 

 and evidently coming from their nesting site. They 

 were calling loudly to each other in a querulous tone, 

 and on reaching the loch I at once saw the reason 

 for their disappointment, as the tarn was completely 

 ice bound and deep snowdrifts lay everywhere around. 



In all probability the company of Gulls was an 

 advance guard sent on by the main colony to report 

 as to the state of the loch, and was returning with 

 the unwelcome intelligence that it would be quite 

 impossible for them to take up their quarters there 

 for some time at least. 



