192 BIRDS. 



poachers, and the attempt to get up a stock of pheasants near 

 Kirkwall was abandoned. Attempts by other proprietors to 

 introduce pheasants into Orkney, as at Binscarth and Muddies- 

 dale, were not more successful. 



A pheasant was killed at Eday, having most probably come 

 over from Shapinsay, where Colonel Balfour kept some. 



Caccabis rufa (.). Red-legged Partridge. 



Red-legged Partridges were introduced into Orkney, near Kirk- 

 wall, by the Earl of Orkney in the year 1840, but they soon 

 disappeared. (Note by J. G. Heddle, Esq.) 



Perdix cinerea, Lath. Partridge. 



Low in his Tour mentions that Partridges were introduced into 

 Hoy and Walls by a Mr. Moodie of Melsetter, but they did not 

 thrive, owing probably to there being so many birds of prey, 

 and want of shelter. 



Since then, many attempts have been made to introduce this 

 bird into the Orkneys by various proprietors, but all seem to 

 have failed. Some few still exist in Eousay and Shapinsay, 

 but in 188.3 there were only some four or five left in the former 

 island. In Rousay they were introduced by Mr. Traill of 

 Woodwick, who got birds from Caithness ; these bred for a few 

 years and then disappeared. They seem to have been again 

 tried by the present proprietor, General Burroughs, with the 

 same result. 



They have been tried also on the Mainland, once by Mr. 

 Irvine-Fortescue's father at Swanbister, but the young birds died. 



Mr. Moodie-Heddle attributes the failure of the Melsetter 

 attempt to their not being sufficiently numerous to begin with. 

 On the other hand, he thinks that they are dying out in Rousay 

 and Shapinsay by reason that the coveys are not sufficiently 

 driven about and broken up, thus allowing birds of the same 

 covey continually to breed in-and-in, and with this opinion 

 we quite agree. 



