400 The Birds of Nairn. [Sess. 



fountain, but to-night it seems that we are the real proprietors 

 of the burn. We call it ours ! 



The sun is sinking fast, and the distant trees are but 

 silhouettes against the brilliant sky ; the very grass, which 

 but a little ago was reflecting the golden light, has taken 

 on a darker hue, and soon deep twilight will cloak the 

 landscape o'er. 



Before that happens let us secure an impression of the 

 view " to the west," the while our thoughts are with the 

 water of the Gogar Burn, now lost to us on its way to the 

 ocean. 



[Over one hundred slides were shown in illustration of this 

 paper.] 



II.— THE BIRDS OF NAIRK 

 By Mr ALEX. WILSON, M.A. 



{Communicated Dec. 20, 1911.) 



Beckoned by acreage, Nairn is one of the least of the Scottish 

 counties. Fortunately, however, with counties as with persons, 

 interest is not always in direct ratio to size. A happy com- 

 bination of natural and artificial conditions, involving questions 

 of climate, surface geology, water - supply, and cultivation 

 has given to this county, small as it is, a variety of resource 

 which appeals to many different species of birds, and which 

 is sometimes lacking to more extensive areas. It is no doubt 

 owing to the conjunction of such advantageous conditions as a 

 moderate climate, a generous supply of food, suitable distribu- 

 tion of land and water, and abundance of covert for shade and 

 shelter, that birds immigrate to our shores and fields at all 

 seasons in such variety and at times in such astonishing 

 numbers, as well as to the fact that the county is a convenient 

 half-way house on a track over which certain birds make 

 periodic journeys. In all the more settled parts of the 

 kingdom the extension of agriculture and forestry has con- 



