2 
merlin. 
. • nnirrhhmirliood. In Perthshire I have seen 
at this season that they must he nesting someu n<T . i also noticed some feathers apparently 
Titlarks, Wheatears, and large mot is noug i down a C0U ple of nestlings just ready to fly; and 
belonging to the Ring-Ouzel. On one occasion . , .. of 0 i 3 Serv ing their bill of fare. Though 
as they were well supplied by their parents, 1 ia< a goo< °P1 damage to game. A brood of young 
it was in the centre of a well-stocked moor, I detu c( no ]ieather at the distance of only a few yards 
Grouse, with hardly a feather upon ^ J iccd the unfledged young of any species taken 
when I first discovered the } oun 0 1 • common during the nesting-season, 
by the Merlin. In Sutherland and ^a" the remains of Snipe and Titlarks 
they appear to have a partiality loi s ™ a n isi derable numbers round their haunts in this county. The 
and the wings of the Egger mot i sea eict m c n. ‘ Perthshire, I observed 
Common Sandpiper is occasionaUy attacked. One the rive. Barely evading 
“s, zsxzzzi r.trz.’T-K 
remained perfectly motionless for over an hear heather on the flat 
The position of their nests varies considerably. I have seen tnem piacou o 
m00 rs and on more than one occasion on small ledges in the face of steep rocks The construct™ of heir 
radio is not particularly elaborate, small heather-stalks, roots, and flue twtgs and fibres of grass being utilized 
in the construction ; it, however, as a rule, fits cosily into some natural hollow in the ground. 
Several years ago, while searching for a male of this species which I had knocked down broken-winged 
amon, some large rocks near his nesting-place, I stumbled on the best-concealed whiskey-still I ever came 
across ; the exciseman who makes a discovery in this case without the assistance of previous information wfll 
te Pa Eariy 1 in JuTy 1868. during a continuance of remarkably hot weather which succeeded several weeks of 
almost incessant rain, I came across a nest of this species in Sutherland, where all the eggs were bad. One 
was perfectly empty, while the rest appeared scarcely above half the ordinary weight. The keepers had known 
of this nest some weeks, and were well aware that the birds ought in the usual course to have hatched off a 
considerable time earlier. X have seen it stated that eggs are soon deserted if their vitality is destroyed by 
damp or other causes; in this case, however, both parents continued sitting, as, on passing the spot twice 
during the day, I disturbed on the first occasion the male and subsequently the female from the nest. Birds 
of prey, are I believe, as a rule, less suspicious of interference with their nests or eggs than most other species. 
I have already mentioned the case of the Buzzard; I also tried the same experiment with the Hen-Harrier, 
and found the female just as easily imposed upon. I have also known Ospreys and Eagles to sit on their nests 
after the eggs had been carried off. A shepherd in the west assured me that he had watched a Golden Eagle 
return and pitch on her nest in which he had placed the head of a lamb, having previously removed her two 
eggs. The bird, he declared, appeared perfectly contented ; but on visiting the spot on the following day, he 
found the head lying at the foot of the rocks, and the nest deserted. 
