ELGIN. Ill 



coots, which had just left the nest. Snipes' eggs and redshanks' 

 also in Spynie. 



May llth. Fished with Mr Allen, and caught a clean 

 salmon with a par. 



We heard a bird singing in the garden whose note was new. 

 On watching we found that it was a blackcap, a very rare bird so 

 far to the north. 



May 29th. Birds in the garden now are very numerous, 

 particularly for a spot of ground so nearly in a town 



1. Wood-pigeon. 8. Willow-wren. 14. Tree-sparrow. 



2. Cuckoo. 9. Whitethroat. 15. Greenfinch. 



3. Missel-thrush. 10. Hedge-sparrow. 16. Chaffinch. 



4. Thrush. 11. Long-tailed 17. Yellow-hammer. 



5. Blackbird. tomtit. 18. Spotted tiy- 



6. Eobin. 12. Little B. tomtit. catcher. 



7. Wren. 13. Sparrow. 



Besides constant visitors, such as hooded-crow, jackdaw, 

 siskin, sparrow-hawk and other hawks, larger titmouse, cole tit- 

 mouse, etc. etc., sixteen varieties breed constantly, besides the 

 swallows, martins, swifts, about the house. 



There is scarcely a day now on which we could procure 

 specimens of these birds within twenty yards of the house, and, 

 as I said, the eggs of sixteen of them within the garden. I 

 might also mention golden-crested wren, bullfinch, etc., which are 

 frequently in the garden. 



June 1st. During a heavy shower of rain, I saw eight 

 young but fully fledged wrens go into a wren's nest, which was 

 scarcely finished, but built by some other old wrens. 



June 5th. We went to-day to take the young peregrines on 

 the rocks, near Hopeman.^ By letting a boy over with a rope, we 

 took four young birds nearly as large as the old ones, but covered 

 with white down. After coming home we fed them on a rabbit. 



July 2nd. There is a blackcap in the garden (a rare visitor 

 here), who sings most indefatigably from three in the morning 



* [See "Sport in Moray, 1882," p. 114. ED.] 



