98 A VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF THE MORAY BASIN. 



The best time to visit the Old Bar from Forres is when the 

 tide is half or three-parts out, as one can then, by wading, cross 

 the canal low down, strike the Bar at or nnder the east end, travel 

 the whole length of the sandhill, and walk over the firm sands at 

 the other end, which lie between Nairn and the west end of the 

 Bar, and which will land one close to the town of Nairn. 



The whole length of the Bar is about three miles. The greater 

 part of it is composed of loose sand, covered with bent, but in the 

 centre, where the salmon fishers have their huts, the ground is 

 firmer, and covered with short, sweet grass. Facing the firth, the 

 shore is entirely sand, but at either end, and for the greater part of 

 its length on the landward side, the shores are stony. The breadth 

 varies, but it is nowhere broader than 400 yards, and generally 

 much less than that. The greatest amount of stones and shingle 

 is at the west point, where it is collected in great banks, with 

 hollows here and there. Here in the summer is a vast colony of 

 Arctic Terns ; nowhere else have we seen such a large one, though 

 we have seen them more concentrated. Besides this large assem- 

 blage, Arctic Terns in smaller numbers are spread all over the Bar, 

 along with Oyster-catchers, Kinged Plovers, Skylarks, and Meadow 

 Pipits. The Dunlins we met with did not appear to be breeding 

 — ^indeed, there is no suitable ground for them ; ^ most of the gulls 

 we saw were immature birds, and we found none breeding there. 

 At the east end there is a very small colony of Lesser Terns, and 

 during one season a number of pairs of Sandwich Terns took pos- 

 session of the extreme point, but, so far as we know, none have 

 bred there since. 



The sandhills are of no great height, perhaps about 60 feet is 

 their greatest elevation ; there is a well of fairly good water at the 

 fishermen's huts. St. John mentions meeting with a colony of field 

 mice, but we saw nothing of them, and only the marks of Eabbits, 

 which, however, did not appear to be particularly numerous. 



A visit to the Old Bar on a fine, warm, sunshiny day at the 

 beginning of June is a pleasant experience to a lover of nature. 

 The view of the sandhills shining bright yellow against the dark 



^ We found, however, one nest of Dunlins with four eggs in 1893 (J. A. Harvie- 

 Brown) to the west of the fishermen's houses. 



