246 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Pheasant. — Phasianus colchicus, Lin. In the New Statistical 

 Account it is mentioned that a few years before the publication of 

 that work (1845), Pheasants were introduced into this quarter by 

 Captain Ferguson of Pitfour, and that, being protected, they pros- 

 pered and spread.* 



Partridge. — Perdix cinerea, Charleton. Very common indeed. 

 The whole district is admirably adapted for partridge shooting. 

 Being a thickly populated country, the holdings are for the most 

 part small and broken up into small patches of corn and turnips, 

 which enables the sportsman to find his birds much more easily, 

 and to mark them down with certainty when once raised. 



Quail. — Coturnix communis, Bonnaterre. Not by any means a 

 rare bird. I have shot one myself near Brucklay Castle, and I 

 know a farm on the estate where there is a nest almost every 

 season. Mention is made of this fact in a note to the Zoologist by 

 Rev. Mr. Smith, of Monquhitter. f 



GRALLATORES. 



Heron. — Ardea cinerea, Lin. Common along the coast. 

 Breeds at Brucklay, Pitfour, Hatton Castle, near Turriff, &c. 



Purple Heron. — Ardea purpurea, Lin. On the authority 

 of Rev. Jas. Smith, a specimen of this bird was killed in the 

 parish of Monquhitter in the beginning of March, 1847. J 



Great White Heron. — Herodias alba (Lin.). A specimen of this 

 noble bird was obtained at Strathbeg in 1854.§ 



Obs. Buff-backed Egret. — Bubulcus ibis (Lin.). Mr. Thomas 

 Edward, in his list of the birds of Strathbeg, mentions that a 

 bird supposed to be an Egret was observed on the west side of the 

 loch in 1816.H 



Bittern. — Botaurus stellaris (Lin.). Mentioned in New Statisti- 

 cal Account as occurring in the parish of Crimond,H while Mr. T. 

 Edward states that one was shot bv one of Mr. Gordon of Cair- 

 ness' keepers in the autumn of 1824, and that others have been 

 seen.** 



Obs. Night Heron. — Nycticorax grisea (Lin.). A specimen in 



*New Stat. Acct., vol. xii., p. 146. 



t Zool, vol. vi., p. 2302. % Zool, vol. vii., p. 2497. 



§ Nat., 1854, p. 243, and Zool, 1860, p. 6847. 



|| Nat., vol. iv., pp. 239-247 and 263-271. 



IT New Stat. Acct., vol. xii., p. 705. ** Nat., vol. iv., pp. 239-247. 



