THE OSPREY. 19 



were formerly placed. It has of late years, as I am informed, been 

 trapped on Loch Awe, and a pair were noticed two years ago 

 surveying the old site on Inch Galbraith, but they left after a few 

 days' fishing in the neighbourhood. I have good reason for saying 

 that they will be most carefully looked to and preserved, should 

 they again establish themselves there. In 1863, 1864, and 1865 

 the Osprey must have bred somewhere north of Stirlingshire, as 

 young birds, beautifully spotted, were trapped near Campsie, arid 

 sent to a poulterer in Glasgow. These I examined, and found 

 to be in fine feather. 



In the first volume of the Ibis, N. S., 1865, it is stated in a letter 

 to the editor by Mr John Roche of Clungunford House, Shrop- 

 shire, that the Osprey breeds regularly every season at a locality in 

 Inverness-shire, and that Lord Hill had informed him of having 

 received young birds from that quarter for several years. It is 

 gratifying to be able to add that Lord Hill, finding it impossible 

 to rear the birds, has requested that in future they are to be 

 protected. 



I have seen this interesting bird fishing in Loch Doon in Ayr- 

 shire and Loch Dee in Kirkcudbrightshire, but not of late years 

 its appearance in either of these lochs being now extremely uncer- 

 tain. Those who practise the " gentle art " will miss their fellow 

 fishers, as no true sportsman who is a lover of nature would grudge 

 them their legitimate prey. Anglers, as a rule, are proud of the 

 companionship of such birds as the Osprey and Water Ouzel, and 

 would as soon think of injuring a fellow-creature as molesting these 

 companions of their solitary hours. 



The Osprey is but a rare straggler to the Outer Hebrides one 

 specimen only having been met with there; it was got on the island 

 of Barra. Mr Elwes informs me that it is of rare occurrence in 

 Islay. There is one preserved in the museum at Islay House. 



The most recent instance of the occurrence of this bird in the 

 middle districts of Scotland is one communicated to me by Mr 

 Brown, in whose collection the specimen has since been placed. 

 It was seen for some time in October, 1868, frequenting Carron 

 Dam, near Falkirk, and extending its flight occasionally up the 

 river in the direction of the village of Larbert. But a marked 

 object like an Osprey was too great a temptation to gun owners 

 living in the neighbourhood of its haunts, and it soon became 

 encircled by a score of enemies. For six days, however, it evaded 



