244: THE BIRDS OF STRATHBEG. 



The Green Sandpiper, (Tringa ochropus,) the Ruff,- (T. pugnax,) and the 

 Avocet, {Recurvirostra avocetta,) have all been obtained; but of course must 

 rank as very rare visitors. The same also may be said of the Dotterel, 

 {Charadrius morinellus,) and the Gray Phalarope, (Phalaropiis lahatus;) four 

 of the former, that is the Dotterel, were shot in the spring of 1852, out of 

 a small party met with on the links near to the Looh; two of which are 

 in my own collection, one in that of a gentleman in Fraserbrough, and the 

 other in the possession of Crawford Noble, Esq., Jun., Savock, by whom 

 three of the birds were killed. They were all arrayed in their breeding or 

 summer dress. 



The foregoing are what may be termed, properly speaking, the Birds of the 

 Loch in tointer. Of course there are several not mentioned, but which will 

 be so when we arrive at the proper time. Those I have omitted being, in 

 a great measure, permanent and breeding there, it is intended to rank them 

 along with the summer birds. There are large flocks of Gulls also, as already 

 hinted, besides other sea- fowl, which are frequently, and under various cir- 

 cumstances, to be met with; but as these belong, more properly, to the 

 shore birds, they will be classed under that head, with this simple reraar!?, 

 that they are to be looked upon as occasional visitors to the Loch, especially 

 the Gulls, many of which are to be seen winter and summer. 



We will now take a glance at the Loch as it is in summer, and then 

 scan the shore. As winter passes away, and spring begins, the Loch wears 

 another aspect. Those vast hordes which have been alluded to, now become 

 more restless. They break up, and flocks disappear daily, until all have 

 gone, except it be a few stragglers. Several pairs of the Mallard remain 

 and breed by the Loch and round that quarter, and appearing on the water 

 again in the end of July with their young, are a source of great amusement 

 to gunners. The Teal also breeds, but very sparingly. 



It is summer now, and you tread the marshy margins of the Loch, where 

 tall grasses, waterpipes, reeds, and a host of other luxuriant aquatics grow; 

 and the shrill whistle of the Redshank, {Totanus calidris,) the wire-like call 

 of the Dunlin, {Tringa variahilis^) the boom of the Snipe, (Scolopax galli- 

 nago,) and the pleasant peewit of the Lapwing, {Vanellus cristatus,) will never 

 fail to salute your willing ears; and the birds themselves to become your 

 company as you pass along. The Redshank, the Dunlin, and the Lapwing, 

 are very numerous. The Black-headed Bunting, [Emberiza schoeniclus,) the 

 Meadow Pipit, {Anthus pratensis,) and the Reed Warbler, {Sylvia salicaria,) 

 also breed in suitable localities round the Loch; the latter but few and only 

 occasionally, the others plentiful in every season. Coots, {Fulica atra,) are 

 abundant, and build amongst the water-pipes and reeds, which in certain 

 places, are of some extent: Water-hens,' {Gallinula chloropus,) rather scarce. 



* Three specimens of the Ruff have come under my notice, as being killed in these northern 

 parts, — the one above referred to, one at Manquhittcr, which is now in the Banff Museum, and 

 the other near Cornhill, Banffshire, by the gamekeeper of Col. Thomas Gordon. 



