180 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



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of the sprouting woods. The woods lie on 

 the confines of the forest, and are open and 

 broken. At night the deer visit the water- 

 springs, and in the bracken-beds drop their soft- 

 eyed young. They are within hearing of the 

 belling of the Red deer on the corrie, and some- 

 times wander to the grey lichen patches loved 

 by the Ptarmigan. But the Roe deer is essen- 

 tially of the woods, the Red deer of the mountains. 

 In winter the Red Grouse come to the sheltered 

 forest, and through all seasons the noble Black- 

 cock crows from the sunny brae to his grey-hen 

 iu the hollow. All these children of the mist 

 suggest a wonderful fitness to their home. The 

 Red deer and the Roe are indigenous, as is the 

 Red Grouse ; and this applies equally to Ptar- 

 migan and Black-game. 



The only fit setting for the Pine is that of 

 the sublime and majestic solitudes which have 

 produced it. In this combination there is per- 

 fect harmony ; or at least in those Highland 

 districts where the Golden Eagle still yelps as it 

 flies down the corrie, where the Salmon leaps in 

 the burn pools, and the Red deer bells from the 

 hills. For even to-day such spots there are. 

 Of the wild mountain and moorland tracts, the 



