5260 Birch. 



1848, and which, if I mistake not, has already been alluded to in the 

 pages of the 'Zoologist,' by a much-lamented friend of mine, the late 

 Hew James Smith, of Manquhitter, the warm-hearted, feeling and be- 

 nevolent Rector (the name he was best known by amongst us), and 

 the friend of all ; but who now, alas ! lies in a lonely corner of 

 Cuinmingstown. 



The Dipper, or, as we have it, the Water Cockie {Cinclus aquati- 

 ons). A curse on foul superstition ! and a curse on wilfully ignorant 

 and prejudiced minds ! — minds which will not be enlightened, do for 

 them whatsoever you will. Alas, poor dipper ! Time was, and we 

 remember it well, that when we used to walk either by the river's 

 bank or along any of our smaller streamlets our eyes seldom, if ever, 

 failed to be greeted by a sight of several, if we went any distance; 

 but now, alas ! we may wander for hours, nay, for days, and not see 

 one, or but a solitary individual or two at most. Our salmon 

 are scarce, and, what is worse, are said to be getting scarcer and 

 scarcer every year; and the poor little clipper is branded, justly or 

 unjustly, as one of the chief agents, if not the only one, in this work of 

 diminution ; and every means is therefore put in requisition which it 

 is possible to conceive, in order, as it were, to extirpate the little bird 

 altogether. Well, it may be that it is in some measure guilty; but 

 this, however, 1 must say, that I have never as yet found anything 

 at all pertaining to fish in the stomachs of those, amounting to nearly 

 forty', which I have dissected; water-insects and their larvae being 

 what I have most frequently observed. Only convince our sal- 

 mon-fishers of this, and 1 will say that you are a very clever fellow 

 indeed. But we shall leave him for the present, and proceed with 

 his brethren, hoping that, as the light of science and common sense 

 dispels the darksome gloom of ignorance and prejudice, better times 

 will dawn, both here and elsewhere, on the poor little dipper. 



The Missel Thrush {Tardus viscivorus). About twelve years ago 

 such a bird was hardly known amongst us. A pair at that time lived 

 in the garden of Denlugas. A year after, a i'cw were seen at Park. 

 Since then, however, it has considerably increased, and bids fair to 

 outnumber the common species, for as the one is gaining ground the 

 other is losing it. 



The Fieldfare (Tardus pilaris). A winter visitor. We call them 

 " Ilel-in-piets," that is u Uighland-piels." They arrive here gene- 

 rally in October, and depart again in April. A few, however, may be 

 seen mostly every summer in our woods, so that they do not all leave 

 us. 1 am not aware, however, of their breeding with us, nor do 



