550 Notes on the Birds of Stobo. By John Thomson. 



attack is made ahvays in the rear and during the night of its victim, and 

 is generally so sudden and vigorous as to intimidate the latter and prevent 

 retaliation. Prying and inquisitive, it visits window-sills on which flowers 

 have been placed, hopping about amongst them ; and two were captured in 

 a vinery in Stobo Castle Gardens which they had entered. 



In choosing a tree whereon to fix its pensile nest the Goldcrest some- 

 times exhibits a capricious fancy. A small plantation of Spruce and Silver 

 Firs, with densely-foliaged, long, sweeping branches is the very beau ideal 

 of a nesting-place, yet amid a group of such trees, or in close proximity to 

 them, a small stunted Fir is at times selected, on which the nest is fully 

 exposed to view — a striking deviation from the bird's wonted predilection 

 for perfect concealment. A kindred eccentricity is manifested by the Rook. 

 Tall Scotch Fii-s are very frequently preferred for the Rookery, perhaps 

 chiefly fortheir security against plunder, derived from their comparatively 

 branchless trunks, and for the admirable way which their bushy heads assim- 

 ilate with the Rook's bulky nests. Yet close to these, nests are also built 

 in the bare clefts of deciduous trees branched to the ground. When going 

 to feed its young, the Goldcrest is at pains to obviate a disclosure of the nest 

 by this action. It passes into the midst of the tree and is lost sight of, thence 

 it steals like a mouse along the branch from which the nest is suspended, 

 creeps into it, feeds its numerous family, and darts downwards and off in 

 an instant. It fraternises with the Long-tailed Tits, and the two species 

 are probably drawn together owing to the great similarity of their ordinary 

 note. The Tits will sometimes resent the Goldcrest's familiarity, and 

 pursue it from tree to tree to drive it from their company — both birds 

 showing wonderful rapidity in descending, wheeling, and ascending, 

 though their onward fiight only represents a very moderate rate of 

 speed. 



Of late years the Wood-Pigeox has done only trifling damage to the 

 farmer's crops. Large numbers perish in protracted storms. Besides 

 being one of our wariest, it is also one of our most sharp-sighted birds, as 

 one may observe by its instantaneous detection of a person in a wood, 

 when passing on the wing overhead. A nest containing two eggs, was 

 found here on the ground underneath a bush of heather. 



The Pheasant thrives well in the district, and is a great ornament to it. 

 A hybrid, bred between a male pheasant and a Scotch-grey hen, was shot 

 in November 1883, at Rachan. The colour of the whole plumage was very 

 much like that of the female parent, while the contour accorded with that 

 of the male. A hen Pheasant which had in a measure assumed the cock's 

 plumage, and which had the peculiarity of having the neck, forehead, and 

 sides of the head dull black, was shot here some years ago by Mr Alexander 

 Inglis, gamekeeper, to whom I have been indebted for showing me rare 

 species that have been killed in the parish. On dissecting a male that had 

 been picked up dead, I found that it had been choked in attempting to 

 swallow three brown slugs, each about an inch long. White or pied young 

 birds are produced mostly every year. Many of them die when young, 

 being as it would seem of a weakly constitution. 



