154 AUTUMNS ON THE SPEY. 



are therefore, in my humble opinion, amenable to 

 the double charge of injustice and ingratitude. 



From the Moray Firth and the sheltered bays 

 of Dornoch and Cromarty on the opposite side, 

 vast numbers of wild-fowl pass over the Spey 

 during the latter part of the autumn on their way 

 to a more genial climate. About the end of Octo- 

 ber, if the weather happened to be severe, I have 

 seen herds of wild swans and flocks of geese and 

 marine ducks of various species flying overhead, 

 generally in a south-westerly direction, towards 

 Loch Ness. The temperature of this region, 

 however, although so far north, is comparatively 

 mild in early winter, heavy snow-storms seldom 

 taking place until January. 



Some very rare visitors have occurred during 

 late years. The greater spotted woodpecker, 

 Picus major, had certainly been met with occa- 

 sionally either singly or in pairs as at Castle 

 Grant and near Inverness but during the autumn 

 of 1868 the species appeared in unusual numbers 

 on both sides of the Moray Firth, showing that a 

 flock of "African woodpeckers" as they were 

 there called must have visited the north of Scot- 

 land. Mr. Yarrell notices that "although this bird 

 occurs in all the southern and midland counties 

 of England, it becomes rare on proceeding north- 



