Ground Vermin Wild Cats. 265 



issue, snapping them up in the event of their being so 

 unlucky as to put out their heads from the entrance of their 

 retreats. 



The haunts in which the wild cat prefers to take up 

 its quarters and form its lair are, as we noted above, 

 the wildest and roughest parts of the country, making its 

 nest in the cleft of some rock or in the interstices among 

 large and uneven boulders. Again, those cairns which 

 are so common in the woods and moors of all parts of 

 Scotland, built to commemorate some event or mark some 

 boundary or track, are favourite places in which it 

 finds a hollow suitable to its wants. They will also occa- 

 sionally form their lair in the hollow of some tree, but 

 the tree must be sound and the hole difficult of access. 

 The wild, cat, we believe, never burrows, but may sometimes, 

 though very seldom, clean out some small rabbit burrow for 

 its accommodation. The large nests, however, of some 

 birds, which may be built low, such as a magpie's or 

 crow's, will occasionally be usurped by it, but the nest 

 must be commodious and very inconspicuous to prove of 

 much attraction. Another kind of dwelling often chosen 

 by this animal are those places commonly termed whisky 

 bothies, met with along the " burns" which flow in all 

 directions from off the moors of Scotland, and to which 

 it is believed the vigilance of excise authorities used not to 

 penetrate. However, this does not much influence the 

 wild cat's choice, and, in these bothies very favourable 

 corners and holes exist in which one might see a suitable 

 lair. From such secure retreat as it may have chosen 

 does it issue at sunset, and commence those depredations 



