﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  about 
  seven 
  miles 
  from 
  Guisachan, 
  taught 
  one 
  to 
  perform 
  all 
  sorts 
  

   of 
  tricks 
  ; 
  this 
  was 
  about 
  1840. 
  Another 
  old 
  man, 
  Roderick 
  

   Macdonald, 
  who 
  died 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  aged 
  eighty-six, 
  used 
  to 
  

   relate 
  that 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  a 
  young 
  lad, 
  and 
  on 
  his 
  way, 
  with 
  some 
  

   others 
  from 
  Guisachan, 
  to 
  join 
  the 
  militia 
  in 
  Inverness, 
  one 
  of 
  

   these 
  young 
  lads, 
  William 
  Macdonald 
  of 
  Achlair, 
  took 
  a 
  young 
  

   Woodpecker 
  with 
  him, 
  carrying 
  it 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  way 
  on 
  his 
  

   shoulder. 
  It 
  was 
  bought 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  militia 
  officers, 
  the 
  laird 
  

   of 
  Glengarry. 
  Both 
  these 
  men, 
  Rory 
  and 
  William 
  Macdonald, 
  

   said 
  that 
  the 
  Red-headed 
  Woodpecker 
  was 
  plentiful 
  at 
  that 
  time, 
  

   easy 
  to 
  tame, 
  very 
  amusing, 
  and 
  full 
  of 
  tricks. 
  

  

  But 
  they 
  were 
  extinct 
  before 
  Lord 
  Tweedmouth 
  came 
  to 
  

   Guisachan 
  about 
  1850, 
  although 
  an 
  odd 
  bird 
  may 
  occasionally 
  

   have 
  occurred 
  ; 
  the 
  last, 
  a 
  female, 
  was 
  seen 
  in 
  December 
  1886, 
  

   but 
  this 
  would 
  no 
  doubt 
  be 
  a 
  migrant. 
  

  

  Whatever 
  was 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  its 
  extinction 
  — 
  and 
  this 
  seems 
  to 
  

   have 
  taken 
  place 
  about 
  Guisachan 
  previous 
  to 
  1850 
  — 
  the 
  bird 
  

   seems 
  to 
  have 
  died 
  out 
  exceedingly 
  quickly. 
  Natural 
  causes 
  must 
  

   have 
  effected 
  this, 
  as 
  they 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  extinct 
  long 
  before 
  the 
  

   craze 
  for 
  collecting 
  birds 
  and 
  eggs 
  reached 
  to 
  such 
  a 
  height 
  as 
  it 
  now 
  

   has. 
  Squirrels 
  have 
  been 
  blamed 
  for 
  killing 
  the 
  young 
  and 
  destroy- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  eggs, 
  but 
  opinion 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  unanimous 
  on 
  this 
  score. 
  

   Lord 
  Tweedmouth 
  remarked 
  that 
  the 
  Squirrels 
  about 
  Guisachan 
  

   were 
  a 
  poor, 
  shabby 
  lot, 
  and, 
  being 
  thus 
  small, 
  they 
  might 
  have 
  

   entered 
  the 
  holes, 
  but 
  where 
  the 
  Squirrels 
  were 
  of 
  the 
  normal 
  

   size 
  this 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  easy, 
  and 
  it 
  certainly 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  easy 
  for 
  

   them 
  to 
  turn 
  in 
  the 
  holes 
  and 
  get 
  out 
  again. 
  Nor 
  is 
  it 
  certain 
  

   that 
  the 
  entire 
  race 
  is 
  carnivorous 
  — 
  most 
  likely 
  not 
  — 
  though 
  

   individuals 
  may 
  be. 
  

  

  The 
  cutting 
  down 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  old 
  pine 
  forests 
  must 
  

   have 
  struck 
  a 
  blow, 
  and 
  a 
  severe 
  one, 
  at 
  the 
  continuous 
  existence 
  

   of 
  the 
  Woodpecker, 
  and 
  then 
  too 
  the 
  forest 
  fires 
  that 
  occasionally 
  

   took 
  place 
  would 
  further 
  assist 
  in 
  the 
  extermination 
  of 
  the 
  un- 
  

   fortunate 
  birds. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  forest 
  of 
  Glen 
  Affric, 
  Hepburn 
  wrote 
  in 
  the 
  Zoologist 
  

   for 
  February 
  1848: 
  — 
  'Here 
  stood 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  noblest 
  primeval 
  

   pine-forests 
  of 
  the 
  north; 
  but 
  a 
  company 
  of 
  merchants, 
  — 
  I 
  be- 
  

   lieve 
  from 
  Norwich, 
  — 
  have 
  been 
  here, 
  and 
  few 
  and 
  sad 
  are 
  the 
  

   memorials 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  ; 
  scattered 
  over 
  the 
  rocky 
  knolls 
  of 
  scanty 
  

  

  