BIRDS. 



293 



but,' he adds, 'I have not recognised the latter.' Brown says 

 the Twite is not a])undant about Forres ; and it certainly appears 

 to be more local on the mosses and moors of the main valleys, 

 even as late as August, as is noted by Mr. W. Evans in 

 1889. It certainly seems to be the hardiest of the genus, 

 and latest to descend from the higher range of its breeding 

 haunts. The species is s«iid to have been observed upon migra- 

 tion — local or otherwise — at Dalwhinnie by Messrs. Evans and 

 Backhouse. 



We have ourselves met Avith the Twite everjnvhere, and its 

 distribution may be described as exceedingly general throughout 

 all the higher districts of Moray — Spey, Deveron, Findhorn, Naini, 

 and tributaries — and is seen in flocks in June, July, and onwards 

 according to the earliness or lateness of the seasons, from the higher 

 * fairm-toons ' of Cabrach down the valleys and through all the 

 upper reaches, but rarer near the sea, although not absent on the 

 higher-lying ranges and on the coast itself. It feeds greedily on 

 seeds of grasses, flocking upon the thatched roofs of the farm- 

 houses; is abundant upon the gravel scaurs along the upper 

 waters of the rivers, which are skirted by low bushes of birch, 

 hazel, or juniper, that have been browsed and dwarfed by sheep 

 and cattle, and is often seen close to the burn-sides among the 

 meadows. 



Pyrrhula europaea, VieilL Bullfinch. 



A common, though not abundant, species everywhere in the north 

 of our area, and seen by us wherever we have gone, as far as the 

 birch-trees extend up the straths. A pure white one was killed 

 near Corriemony in July 1866. Bullfinches are hardy birds, and 

 do not leave these higher localities, however severe the weather 

 may be, as we have seen them in flocks feeding on the heather 

 seeds away from trees in the hardest weather. 



Southwards, too, the Bullfinch is a resident, but possibly at one 

 time was only an autumn and winter visitant, and of late years has 

 become certainly a spreading species up the west coast and else- 

 where in Scotland. There is an absence of record from anywhere 

 within our area at the date of the O.S.A., except Mortlach pariah, > 



• The returns from the parish of Mortlach can be relieil upon. 



