LAST OF THE INDIGENOUS SCOTTISH CAPERCAILLIES = 173 
Mr Allan’s, mentioned at p. 321! of the preceding Memoirs, which 
were found in the hands of a respectable bookseller in the county 
of Durham, and were consequently purchased. . . . The work 
in question consists of an account of the animals in Mr Allan’s 
collection, with concise descriptions of the subjects, compiled from 
Pennant and Latham, with occasional remarks by the author, all 
of which nearly correspond with the labels on the cases .. . and 
it is of no small satisfaction to find amongst [these remarks] a few 
notices of infinite importance to the value of our Museum, amongst 
which is the evidence of the Cock of the Wood . . . being actually 
[a] British killed specimen.” ? 
Turning to the Appendix, we find the following :— 
“164, Cock of the Wood. ‘The last bird found in Scotland, 
was shot in Chisholm’s great forest, in Strathglass,’ ex auth. 
Pennant. The rest of the description from Lath., p. 731.” 
“T am desirous of separating from the above, the remainder of 
Mr Allan’s remarks on this bird, which is most important to the 
value of our collection—‘ This case ts a fine specimen and attitude, 
and, as I have been told, cost Mr Tunstall five guineas. WAS SHOT 
IN ScoTLanp.’—AUlan Cat., No. go. See our remarks upon this 
subject, at p. 78, and we rejoice that the conjecture there given 
is hereby verified. If this evidence can be depended on, ours is 
the only native male specimen that I know of in English collections, 
not excepting even the British Museum; and it is not too fanciful 
to suspect that it is the Chisholm-killed bird, mentioned above, 
which Pennant says he saw.—Ep.” 
Unless we doubt the veracity of the copyist, Mr Fox, 
we have here the distinct statement by a former owner of 
the cock-Capercaillie in question that it “was shot in Scot- 
land.” Whether it actually came from “Chisholm’s great 
forest, in Strathglass,” we shall probably never know, but 
that it was of Scottish origin we are definitely told by 
Mr George Allan. Personally, I am prepared to accept 
1 Of. cit, p. 32, reads :—“ Of this Museum it is asserted that the 
birds alone filled a written catalogue of two volumes in which were 
probably included the description which Mr Allan composed... . For 
want of this catalogue ... it is impossible to ascertain exactly what 
articles now in the collection belonged originally to the VARIN 
Museum,” etc. 
2 G. T. Fox, of. ctzZ, pp. 201-202. ON 
3 Of. cit., pp. 208-209. ce 
I19 AND 120 ¥- 
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