8o 



They are then in first-rate condition, and few birds, 

 even of the Snipe or Plover kind, are finer 

 flavoured. 



I have never met with this species during the 

 winter months. 



The specimens in the case together with their 

 nest and eggs were obtained in Strathmore in 

 Caithness in June, 1869. 



CHOUGH. 

 Case 96. 



The Chough appears in certain districts to be 

 gradually disappearing ; year by year the colonies 

 grow smaller and the total extinction of the species 

 will probably be shortly accomplished. This falling 

 off in numbers does not refer to the whole of the 

 British Islands as in some localities it still holds 

 its own. 



The specimens were obtained in Cornwall in 

 the autumn of 1880. 



EAVEN. 

 Case 97. 



The Raven is distributed over the country 

 from Sussex to Caithness, though in considerably 

 larger numbers in the northern than in the southern 

 parts of the Island. 



It nests either in high trees, old buildings, 

 cliffs or precipices, accommodating itself to the 

 neighbourhood it inhabits. 



In the beginning of September I have often 

 seen as many as fifty or sixty of these birds 

 gathered together on the moors in Perthshire ; few, 

 if any, of these had been bred in the immediate 

 neighbourhood, having in all probability crossed the 

 hills from the northern counties or the western 



