﻿6 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  being 
  seen 
  north 
  of 
  Inverness 
  or 
  in 
  this 
  neighbourhood' 
  (W.Macleay, 
  

   in 
  lit. 
  to 
  J. 
  Lumsden, 
  Esq., 
  19th 
  January 
  1875). 
  

  

  Captain 
  Stirling, 
  in 
  his 
  list 
  of 
  birds 
  from 
  Fairburn, 
  enters 
  it 
  on 
  

   the 
  authority 
  of 
  a 
  friend, 
  who 
  says 
  that 
  one 
  specimen 
  was 
  shot 
  

   near 
  there. 
  

  

  Since 
  Macleay 
  wrote 
  the 
  above, 
  two 
  more 
  specimens 
  have 
  passed 
  

   through 
  his 
  hands 
  : 
  one 
  was 
  procured 
  at 
  Rosemarkie, 
  in 
  the 
  Black 
  

   Isle, 
  in 
  February 
  1881, 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  at 
  Aldourie 
  in 
  December 
  

   1882. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  the 
  Jay 
  is 
  equally 
  rare. 
  St. 
  John 
  

   does 
  not 
  mention 
  it 
  at 
  all 
  as 
  occurring 
  in 
  Morayshire. 
  

  

  James 
  Lumsden, 
  Esq. 
  of 
  Arden, 
  Alexandria, 
  Dumbartonshire, 
  

   in 
  his 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  ' 
  Distribution 
  of 
  the 
  Common 
  Jay 
  in 
  Scot- 
  

   land 
  ' 
  (Scottish 
  Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  234), 
  quotes 
  Edward's 
  record 
  

   (List 
  of 
  the 
  Birds 
  of 
  Banffshire, 
  Zool. 
  1856, 
  p. 
  5273), 
  and 
  then 
  

   adds 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  All 
  he 
  had 
  heard 
  of 
  himself 
  was 
  a 
  pair 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   bourhood 
  of 
  Banff 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1872, 
  which 
  fact,' 
  he 
  adds, 
  

   ' 
  was 
  recorded 
  in 
  a 
  local 
  paper 
  ' 
  ! 
  

  

  MacGillivray's 
  old 
  record 
  still 
  holds 
  good 
  generally 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  In 
  the 
  

   woods 
  skirting 
  the 
  Grampians 
  from 
  Forfar 
  to 
  Dumbarton' 
  

   (Lumsden's 
  paper, 
  op. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  1) 
  ; 
  but 
  beyond 
  this 
  barrier 
  or 
  great 
  

   geological 
  fault 
  we 
  have 
  little 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  to 
  the 
  

   northward. 
  

  

  Two 
  were 
  seen 
  and 
  one 
  shot 
  at 
  Gordon 
  Castle, 
  March 
  14th, 
  

   1874, 
  and 
  another 
  one 
  was 
  shot 
  afterwards 
  at 
  Innes 
  House. 
  They 
  

   were 
  at 
  first 
  tame, 
  and 
  were 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  birds 
  that 
  had 
  

   escaped 
  from 
  Dunrobin 
  Castle 
  (John 
  Webster, 
  in 
  lit. 
  to 
  Rev. 
  Dr. 
  

   George 
  Gordon, 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray, 
  q.v.). 
  There 
  were 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  eggs 
  

   in 
  Mr. 
  Stuart's 
  collection 
  at 
  Grantown, 
  and 
  the 
  note 
  is 
  added, 
  ' 
  but 
  

   seen 
  very 
  rarely.' 
  We 
  did 
  not 
  see 
  these 
  eggs 
  when 
  we 
  inspected 
  

   the 
  collection 
  in 
  1892. 
  

  

  Pica 
  rustica 
  (Scop.). 
  Magpie. 
  

  

  Local 
  Names. 
  — 
  Pyot 
  (Gregor), 
  Magpie 
  (general). 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  north-east 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  the 
  Magpie 
  is 
  decreasing, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  

   not 
  seen 
  one 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Little 
  Ferry 
  for 
  many 
  years. 
  Our 
  Brora 
  

   correspondent, 
  however, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  Baillie, 
  says 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  pair 
  still 
  

   about 
  the 
  Uppat 
  Woods, 
  and 
  in 
  1887 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  uncommon 
  in 
  

  

  