﻿154 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  word 
  more 
  : 
  — 
  is 
  it 
  good 
  sense 
  to 
  bring 
  into 
  a 
  new 
  country, 
  which 
  

   has 
  confessedly 
  inferior 
  ground, 
  and 
  not 
  as 
  healthy-conditioned^ 
  a 
  large 
  

   stock 
  of 
  healthy 
  fresh 
  cocks 
  and 
  hens, 
  say 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  best 
  

   English 
  or 
  Perthshire 
  moors, 
  and 
  expect 
  these 
  birds 
  quietly 
  to 
  settle 
  

   down 
  and 
  colonise 
  % 
  And 
  yet 
  this 
  is 
  what 
  several 
  gentlemen, 
  

   who 
  desired 
  to 
  improve 
  their 
  stock, 
  have 
  told 
  us 
  they 
  have 
  done 
  — 
  

   thus, 
  in 
  our 
  opinion, 
  flying 
  in 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  natural 
  conditions 
  which 
  

   stare 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  face 
  all 
  around. 
  

  

  Lagopus 
  mutus, 
  Leach. 
  Ptarmigan. 
  

  

  The 
  Ptarmigan 
  is 
  found 
  on 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  hills 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  

   that 
  rise 
  above 
  2000 
  feet, 
  in 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  numbers 
  : 
  they 
  are 
  

   perhaps 
  most 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  high 
  hills 
  that 
  form 
  the 
  watershed 
  

   between 
  the 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  coasts. 
  On 
  isolated 
  hills 
  the 
  birds 
  are 
  

   less 
  plentiful, 
  possibly 
  because 
  there 
  is 
  more 
  ' 
  in-and-in 
  ' 
  breeding, 
  

   the 
  distances 
  between 
  these 
  places 
  making 
  it 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  some 
  

   difficulty 
  for 
  the 
  birds 
  to 
  move 
  backwards 
  and 
  forwards. 
  Meall 
  

   Fourvonie 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  cases, 
  for 
  although 
  Ptarmigan 
  are 
  found 
  

   there, 
  yet 
  from 
  the 
  notes 
  of 
  Messrs. 
  Muirhead 
  (1867) 
  and 
  A. 
  Craig 
  

   (1882) 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  abundant. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Sutherlandshire 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  the 
  two 
  Bens 
  Griam 
  

   are 
  examples 
  of 
  these 
  isolated 
  hills, 
  and 
  there 
  Ptarmigan 
  are 
  only 
  

   occasional 
  visitants, 
  though 
  they 
  do 
  breed 
  at 
  times. 
  A 
  single 
  bird 
  

   was 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  Craggan 
  (a 
  hill 
  on 
  the 
  Torish 
  shooting, 
  on 
  the 
  

   march 
  between 
  Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness) 
  on 
  Sept. 
  24th, 
  1891, 
  

   and 
  again 
  one, 
  probably 
  the 
  same 
  bird, 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  hill, 
  a 
  few 
  

   days 
  later. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  first 
  that 
  the 
  keeper 
  had 
  ever 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  

   ground 
  during 
  nearly 
  fifteen 
  years' 
  experience. 
  

  

  Captain 
  Ellice 
  informs 
  us 
  that 
  Ptarmigan 
  are 
  very 
  plentiful 
  

   at 
  Invergarry 
  (1886), 
  and 
  still 
  increasing 
  (1888), 
  but 
  here, 
  different 
  

   from 
  Meall 
  Fourvonie, 
  they 
  have 
  a 
  much 
  more 
  extended 
  and 
  con- 
  

   tinuous 
  range. 
  

  

  Murdoch 
  Matheson 
  told 
  us 
  that 
  when 
  living 
  at 
  a 
  house 
  pretty 
  

   high 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  hills 
  above 
  Loch 
  Garry, 
  on 
  May 
  25th, 
  1888, 
  a 
  

   Ptarmigan, 
  chased 
  by 
  a 
  hawk, 
  took 
  refuge 
  in 
  the 
  byre, 
  and 
  was 
  

   very 
  easily 
  caught. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Hoy 
  has 
  the 
  note 
  : 
  — 
  £ 
  Feeds 
  upon 
  heath-tops 
  and 
  leaves 
  of 
  

   Viccinium 
  vitis-idcea, 
  a 
  considerable 
  number 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  taken 
  

  

  