106 WILD NATURE IN STRATHEARN. 



" Through lofty groves the Ring-Dove roves, 



The path of man to shun it ; 

 The hazel bush o'erhangs the Thrush ; 



The spreading morn the Linnet. 

 Thus every kind their pleasure find, 



The savage and the tender ; 

 Some social join and leagues combine, 

 Some solitary wander." 



Burns. 



On the spruce trees, twenty or more feet from 

 the ground, may be seen the nest, composed of 

 a few rough sticks, loosely thrown together, and 

 so open that the two white eggs may sometimes 

 be seen shining through the structure. They 

 return year by year to the same trees to nest, 

 but, so far as I have observed, always make I 

 cannot say build a new nest a few feet above 

 the old. Although suspicious of man, and giving 

 him a wide berth in the open, in the breeding 

 season they build quite close to my house, 

 and at that time have apparently no fear 

 of man. 



In some parts the Wood Pigeon is called the 

 " Queest " (Latin questus a complaining), it being 



