64 WILD FLOWERS OF SCOTLAND 



made no conscious selection of the spring brake for 

 nesting. But it is no fancy that the yellow head 

 affords it some concealment, as it sings its simple 

 lay from the broom bush, or even amid the scantier 

 blossoms of the whin. 



One would naturally expect to find such seem- 

 ing-hardy, free-spreading plants among the hills. 

 And, even should the broom fail, after a certain 

 altitude, because there was no depth of soil there, 

 the whin so habituated to bad treatment, able, 

 through much practice, to cling on to any rock, 

 and, through much privation, to subsist on any 

 diet should climb as high as other plants. 



And yet both reach but a comparatively low 

 altitude, beyond which no spring yellow is visible. 

 Both are found sparingly at the Castleton of Brae- 

 mar, some twelve hundred feet above sea-level, but 

 do not manage to struggle beyond. 



The whin is an interesting instance of a com- 

 paratively hardy shrub, that can face anything but 

 a mountain. Its lowland companion, the fir tree, 

 climbs away beyond, and leaves it lagging behind. 

 In these windy regions one would imagine the 

 advantage to lie with the lowlier shrub, 



