1 9 1 i-i 9 1 2.] The Birds of Nairn, 411 



shore, so the handsome and toothsome Eingdove represents 

 his order in the middle area, and is quite as abundant in wood 

 and field as the farmers desire it to be. 



Glancing at the birds of economic value which flourish in the 

 middle area, we find the Pheasant numerous, a bird of recent 

 and artificial introduction, and for the most part a mongrel. 

 The Partridge also continues to frequent congenial ground in 

 sufficient numbers to provide good sport, and the Blackcock 

 may be flushed here and there over the area, though I do not 

 think it is abundant anywhere. Woodcock breed in the 

 county, and are suflEiciently numerous. 



Of the Eails, the Moorhen is by far the most abundant in 

 this county, and is invariably distributed wherever there are 

 streams, ditches, or pools. Next to the Moorhen, in point of 

 numbers, comes the Coot, which, though abundantly plentiful, 

 is more local in its distribution. The migratory Corncrake is 

 also plentiful in its season, but this bird is evidently taught, 

 whilst still in the nursery, that " little crakes should be heard, 

 not seen," and so it has grown to be little more than a " wander- 

 ing voice." The rare Water-rail I have seen only once, but 

 it is an incorrigible skulker, and is probably more numerous 

 than it appears to be. 



The third or hill zone, extensive as it is, does not call for 

 lengthy description. Near the town, during the severe winter 

 snaps, one of the most noticeable of birds is the Common 

 Snipe, which under stress of the binding frost betakes itself 

 to certain warm springs on the banks of the river, but the 

 most likely nesting-ground is on some marshy flat or terrace 

 among the Cawdor Hills. It is here, too, among the deep 

 water-courses which seam the hillsides, that you may expect 

 to find the breeding-place of the Eingousel, where it nests in 

 the heather scrub in the rifts of the rocks, among the stunted 

 saughs and birches which spring from the weather-worn 

 gneiss and granite. Hither also come the Golden Plover in 

 the breeding season, and various mud-flat birds, such as the 

 Curlew, Eedshank, and Oyster-catcher. As for the Oyster- 

 catcher, it is difficult to say where you may not find the bird. 

 You will not find him in a wood, of course, but everywhere 

 else on field and fell, heath, river-bed, and sand-dune he is in 



