50 



The Naturalist. 



sustained, for the general barrenness of a mountain district precludes 

 the possibility of a lazy bird existing. 



The following are extracts from my note-book, made during the 

 1876 excursions, and will give some idea of the nidification and other 

 habits of this bird : — 



May 6th : At the hour appointed the cragsman arrives with his long 

 rope (usually used to extract sheep from inaccessible places), my friend 

 and myself accompany him. Crossing the lake in a boat, we land 

 and ascend the mountain to a spot where it is bi-sected by a deep and 

 narrow ravine, at the angle of which a mountain torrent leaps 100ft. 

 below, forming a grand waterfall. Carefully approaching the side, we 

 are gratified by a sight of the old bird as she hurriedly leaves her 

 nest, exposing to our anxious gaze her two eggs. The nest is placed 

 some 15ft. below, on the broad stem of a large mountain ash which 

 springs from the perpendicular side, and is simply a hollow surrounded 

 by stout heather stems, lined with finer heather and dry grass. The 

 eggs are easily procured with the aid of ropes, and are of a dirty 

 white ground colour, sparingly blotched with dull blood red. Alto- 

 gether the site is beautiful in the extreme. 



Descending to the boat, we proceed up the lake for about a mile, 

 and landing on the opposite side, proceed to a second nest, which 

 is situate in an unfrequented valley quite in the mountains, and 1500 

 feet above the level of the lake. After a climb of an hour-and-a-half 

 we arrive at the site, the precipitous rocky side of a torrent, locally 

 known as a "gill." We again approach from above with caution, and 

 are favored with a glimpse of the old bird as she leaves her nest, 

 which is not visible from above. Being wishful to inspect it, the rope 

 is carefully adjusted, and I reach the nest some 20ft. below, suffering 

 slight inconvenience from the shower of small stones and sand from 

 above ; but I am well prepared for the stones by having our united 

 pocket handkerchiefs in the crown of my hat. The nest is placed on 

 a very narrow ledge, so narrow that it is impossible to stand upon it 

 without support by the rope from above, and is of large dimensions, 

 being quite two feet high and 18in. in diameter — a very compact 

 structure of heather stems of the thickness of one's little finger, lined 

 with finer heather and dry grass. The eggs, two in number, are 

 remarkably clean, with rather more red markings than the last. On 

 the same ledge, a few feet to the right is a nest of former years, of 

 similar construction, and apparently in good repair, placed between 

 the face of the rock and the stem of a slender mountain ash I 



The eggs from both the nests proved to be considerably incubated. 



