﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  27 
  

  

  soil, 
  or 
  dotting 
  the 
  mountain-side, 
  with 
  twisted 
  stem, 
  gnarled 
  bark, 
  

   scanty 
  foliage, 
  and 
  many 
  a 
  scattered 
  limb, 
  these 
  old 
  trees 
  link 
  

   the 
  past 
  with 
  the 
  present.' 
  

  

  The 
  old 
  natural 
  pines 
  of 
  Ruskich 
  on 
  Loch 
  Ness 
  have 
  also 
  

   disappeared. 
  

  

  In 
  1855, 
  Lord 
  Tweedmouth 
  told 
  us, 
  there 
  were 
  hundreds 
  and 
  

   hundreds 
  of 
  white 
  trunks 
  of 
  firs 
  burnt 
  and 
  dying, 
  within 
  a 
  mile 
  of 
  

   Guisachan 
  House, 
  but 
  now, 
  1892, 
  scarcely 
  one 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  seen. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  pines 
  at 
  Guisachan, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  

   said 
  by 
  those 
  still 
  living, 
  that 
  smuggling 
  having 
  become 
  common 
  

   between 
  1840 
  and 
  1850, 
  the 
  smugglers 
  — 
  of 
  whom 
  Rory 
  Macdonald, 
  

   before 
  mentioned, 
  Lord 
  Tweedmouth's 
  informant, 
  and 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  

   the 
  strath, 
  was 
  one 
  — 
  used 
  all 
  the 
  decayed 
  and 
  bored 
  trees 
  for 
  

   their 
  still-fires, 
  and 
  this 
  the 
  proprietors 
  did 
  not 
  discourage 
  so 
  long 
  

   as 
  the 
  sound 
  trees 
  were 
  left 
  alone. 
  

  

  Very 
  few 
  of 
  these 
  old 
  dead 
  pines 
  are 
  now 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  at 
  

   Guisachan. 
  Lord 
  Tweedmouth 
  wrote 
  us 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  There 
  may 
  be 
  a 
  

   dozen 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  left 
  between 
  the 
  Plodda 
  Fall 
  and 
  Garvagh 
  

   Bridge, 
  but 
  those 
  trees 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  too 
  large 
  and 
  too 
  thick 
  

   for 
  any 
  Woodpecker 
  to 
  attack 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  nesting 
  in 
  j 
  all 
  

   the 
  holes, 
  I 
  remember, 
  were 
  in 
  trees 
  of 
  moderate 
  size, 
  i.e. 
  for 
  

   Guisachan 
  natives. 
  There 
  is 
  still 
  one 
  stunted 
  fir 
  remaining 
  at 
  

   Plodda 
  Fall. 
  It 
  has 
  partially 
  recovered 
  from 
  the 
  burning, 
  and 
  

   has 
  green 
  branches. 
  It 
  has 
  an 
  elbow, 
  and 
  on 
  that 
  elbow 
  may 
  be 
  

   seen 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Woodpecker's 
  nesting-holes, 
  though 
  gradually 
  

   closing 
  and 
  filling 
  up. 
  The 
  tree, 
  though 
  small, 
  is 
  remarkable 
  from 
  

   the 
  elbow 
  being 
  at 
  right 
  angles 
  with 
  the 
  stock, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  noticed 
  

   the 
  boring 
  almost 
  from 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  I 
  walked 
  that 
  way. 
  There 
  

   were 
  many 
  others, 
  ordinary-sized 
  trees, 
  stripped 
  of 
  their 
  bark 
  by 
  

   fire 
  — 
  of 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  girth, 
  and 
  all 
  riddled 
  with 
  holes, 
  but 
  these 
  

   have 
  gradually 
  disappeared.' 
  Our 
  own 
  idea 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  extinction 
  

   of 
  the 
  Woodpecker 
  arose 
  in 
  a 
  great 
  measure 
  from 
  the 
  disappear- 
  

   ance 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  deud 
  pines, 
  and 
  the 
  greater 
  care 
  now 
  taken 
  of 
  the 
  

   vast 
  tracts 
  of 
  forest 
  land. 
  The 
  woods 
  are 
  now 
  judiciously 
  thinned, 
  

   and 
  any 
  trees 
  showing 
  signs 
  of 
  decay 
  are 
  cut 
  down 
  at 
  once. 
  

   When 
  we 
  were 
  at 
  Guisachan 
  in 
  1892, 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  holes 
  we 
  saw 
  in 
  

   the 
  pine-trees 
  had 
  any 
  depth 
  in 
  them, 
  but 
  were 
  exactly 
  like 
  those 
  

   in 
  the 
  stump 
  represented 
  at 
  page 
  33. 
  In 
  none 
  of 
  the 
  few 
  dead 
  firs 
  

   left 
  there 
  did 
  we 
  see 
  the 
  round 
  holes 
  which 
  are 
  so 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  

  

  