46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



and wild fowl on the loch being unusually plentiful, especially 

 goosanders, scaup, golden-eye, tufted ducks, wigeon, and razorbills. 

 Rabbits dead in their holes, and mere bags of bones. Wild duck 

 and herons beginning to suffer much, streams being all frozen up. 



This great frost continued with hardly a check till 30th January, 

 except on 22nd and 23rd, when thaw set in, clearing away river 

 ice. A report from Thurso speaks of the tameness of gulls, which 

 alighted on the window-sills of the houses ; the birds fed there 

 regularly were starlings, robins, finches, and blackbirds. Within 

 the last few days woodpigeons have come to Mr. Tait's garden 

 inside the town, feeding on greens and turnip-tops. Redwings, 

 thrushes, &c, are said to have perished in great numbers during 

 the frost at and around North Berwick, and woodpigeons are 

 " becoming very tame." Roads there all blocked up level with 

 the hedges. 



The birds have suffered terribly during the last few weeks of 

 intense cold. At one farm-house at Cawdor near Forres, after the 

 snow and drift of Wednesday night, a strange sight was witnessed 

 in a cleared space not 10 yards square. There were barndoor fowls, 

 tame and wild pigeons, crows, partridges, blackbirds, water-hens, 

 and smaller birds, picking up such particles of grain as they could 

 get. The greatest harmony seemed to prevail amongst the different 

 species, some of the larger being so reduced and weary that they 

 might have been easily caught. The Ross-shire Journal says that 

 the Cromarty Firth abounds in flocks of wild fowl, principally 

 ducks, but also many geese — [Inverness Courier, 29. i. 81]. 



Deer coming down in numbers from the hills, and white hares 

 caught in gardens in Inverness. Immense flocks of larks feeding 

 around Edinburgh. Many people reported frozen to death. 

 Houses buried in snow-drifts in Lewis [18. i. 81]. Water-hens 

 which had died were brought to Mr. Sim, Aberdeen, but he found 

 them usually in good condition. Woodcock, snipe, and partridge 

 seem to have suffered most in Aberdeenshire. A correspondent of 

 the Northern Chronicle at Loch Maree [26. i. 81] says : — "Coming 

 along to-day I saw rather an unusual sight — two grouse perched 

 on a birch tree. They seemed quite tame, and remained as we 

 drove past. I saw also at the mouth of Glen Grudie, quite close 

 to the road, a splendid herd of deer, consisting of 50 hinds, with a 

 fine stag at their head. They appeared to have been hand-fed, and 

 were apparently as tame as park deer. The loch, true to its tradition, 



