1911-1912.] The Birds of Nairn. 403 



" kaims," which skirt the Nairn littoral more or less along its 

 whole length, but which are most noticeable to the west of 

 the town above the Carse of Delnies. 



(2) A middle zone, varying in breadth from three or four 

 miles in the west, at Kilravock, to seven miles in the east of 

 the county on the farther side of the Findhorn, and including 

 the whole of the agricultural and timber lands of Cawdor, 

 Boath, and Kinsteary estates, and a great part of the Kilravock, 

 Holme Eose, Lethen, and Brodie estates, besides the surburban 

 properties of various small proprietors. 



(3) A triangle of heathery hill and moor country lying to 

 the south of the parishes of Cawdor and Ardclach, with a base- 

 line of some twelve miles, beginning at Clava, skirting Dalcharn, 

 Clunas, and Highland Boath, and finally running along by 

 Wade's highland road across the Findhorn to Aitnoch and 

 Lochindorb. With this line for its base, the triangle reaches 

 its vertex in Carnglass, some ten miles to the south. As I 

 have said, this part of the county consists almost entirely 

 of heather hills, moors, and bogs. It is bisected, however, by 

 the Findhorn, one of the most picturesque of Scottish rivers, 

 deep down in the cleft of which you will come on the lovely 

 valley of the Streens, the only interruption, so far as I know, 

 to the general desolation of this wild hinterland. 



Of these three, the littoral zone, small as it is, is by far the 

 most interesting in respect of its birds, having within its area 

 the Culbin Sands ; the Old Bar ; the remarkable stretch of 

 tidal sands lying between the Old Bar and the town of Nairn ; 

 the equally remarkable fiat ground skirting these sands below 

 Mavistown and the Druim, — a tract which not so long ago was 

 a wind-swept wilderness of ling, sphagnum, and cotton-grass, 

 but which now, though it still retains the charm of its solitude, 

 has been greatly changed in appearance and condition by the 

 extensive planting of Scots fir. Go where you may along 

 this littoral zone, you cannot fail to find a considerable variety 

 of land and water birds. Towards the west of the area, on 

 the actual boundary-line of Inverness and Nairn, lies Loch 

 Flemington, an excellent feeding and breeding ground for 

 various species of water-fowl, and a place of temporary sojourn 

 for Geese and Swans in their migrations. Nearer the town, in 

 a depression of the " kaims," you find the Loch of the Clans, 



