52 Proceedings of the Boyal Physical Society. 



Macgillivray informs us that in the interval between 1811 

 and 1853, " the greater, and by far the finest, parts of the 

 Braemar pines were sold and cut down."* It is, there- 

 fore, perhaps all the less probable that the species would 

 lino-er here unnoticed. A large portion of the forest in Glen 

 Tanar appears to have still existed about 1813. At that time 

 it contained " almost innumerable trees of such magnitude as 

 would be fit for masts of the largest size," etcf 



Inverness, Nairn, Elgin. 



The Kev. Lachlan Shaw, J in his " History of the Province 

 of Moray" (1775), § was the last to chronicle the squirrel as 

 lingering in that district. He says — "There are still in 

 this province foxes, badgers, and squirrels, weasels, etc. ; " and 

 he tells us further, — "The squirrel is a pretty, sportive, 

 harmless creature ; it is a kind of wood wesel — haunts the fir- 

 trees. If you toss chips or sticks at it, it will toss pieces of 

 the bark back again, and thus sports with you. If it is 

 driven out of a tree, and skipping into another, finds the dis- 

 tance too great, it turns back to its former lodge, its bushy 

 tail serving as a sail or wing to it." 



Pennant also mentions it as occurring on the Spey, || more 

 than a hundred years ago. He says it is " scarce in Scot- 

 land ; a few in the woods of Strathspey." ^ 



On Speyside, or the lower reaches of the river, there 

 certainly is every reason to believe it became extinct. The 

 Eev. Geo. Gordon says — " Squirrels were undoubtedly known 

 at an early period in Strathspey, where it is said their num- 



* " Deeside and Braemar, "p. 136. See also under " Extension in Aber- 

 deenshire," next part, infra. 



i Daniel's "Rural Sports," Supplement, p. 312. 



X The Rev. Lachlan Shaw was minister of Kingussie, and resided near 

 the primeval forests of Glenmore and Abernethy, in Strathspey. 



§ Second edition (1827), pp. 205, 206. 



II Lightfoot's " Flora Scotica "—Sketch of Caledonian Zoology (1777). 



IT Mr Gordon informs me of the following recognised divisions of the valley 

 of the Spey. " From the mouth to Lower Craigellachie it is called Speyside, 

 between lower and Upper Craigellachie it is called Strathspey (Abernethy lies 

 in this portion), and what lies above Upper Craigellachie goes by the general 

 name of Badenoch." 



