﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  7 
  

  

  the 
  woods 
  along 
  the 
  north 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Kyle 
  of 
  Sutherland. 
  They 
  

   are 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  about 
  Tain 
  and 
  neighbourhood. 
  

  

  The 
  Magpie 
  is 
  certainly 
  not 
  increasing, 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  still 
  

   occur 
  in 
  most 
  districts 
  suitable 
  to 
  it. 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  MacGillivray, 
  game- 
  

   keeper, 
  tells 
  us 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  seen, 
  though 
  very 
  rarely, 
  as 
  far 
  up 
  

   Strathglass 
  as 
  Guisachan. 
  It 
  occurs 
  about 
  Beauly, 
  and 
  was 
  

   seen 
  at 
  Loch 
  Beneveian 
  by 
  Hepburn 
  in 
  1847. 
  At 
  Invergarry 
  it 
  

   used 
  occasionally 
  to 
  be 
  seen, 
  though 
  apparently 
  never 
  very 
  com- 
  

   mon, 
  1 
  but 
  now, 
  we 
  are 
  informed, 
  there 
  is 
  not 
  one. 
  A 
  few 
  exist 
  in 
  

   the 
  large 
  woods 
  in 
  the 
  east 
  of 
  Ross-shire, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  pretty 
  well 
  

   looked 
  after 
  there 
  as 
  elsewhere. 
  They 
  were 
  not 
  uncommon 
  about 
  

   Scotsburn 
  in 
  1887. 
  

  

  At 
  Glen 
  Urquhart 
  it 
  only 
  occurred 
  as 
  a 
  straggler, 
  and 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  

   Craig 
  did 
  not 
  know 
  of 
  their 
  having 
  built 
  there 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  

   (1882). 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  south 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  the 
  Magpie 
  is 
  sparingly 
  dis- 
  

   tributed. 
  It 
  is 
  resident 
  ; 
  locally 
  abundant 
  ; 
  much 
  persecuted 
  by 
  

   keepers 
  on 
  preserved 
  grounds 
  ; 
  not 
  so 
  much 
  killed 
  down 
  in 
  some 
  

   quarters 
  where 
  game-preservation 
  is 
  less 
  followed. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  wrote 
  that 
  in 
  his 
  time 
  the 
  Magpie 
  abounded 
  in 
  Moray, 
  

   building 
  at 
  times 
  in 
  single 
  trees 
  close 
  to 
  a 
  farm 
  or 
  other 
  house. 
  

  

  Edward 
  calls 
  it 
  1 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  bashful 
  of 
  birds.' 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  Magpie 
  as 
  less 
  frequently 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  

   vicinity 
  of 
  houses 
  than 
  formerly, 
  and 
  accounts 
  for 
  the 
  apparent 
  

   decrease 
  by 
  the 
  growth 
  and 
  increase 
  of 
  plantations. 
  They 
  are 
  

   seen 
  generally 
  in 
  pairs, 
  but 
  at 
  times 
  in 
  flocks 
  of 
  eighteen 
  or 
  

   twenty 
  (Fauna 
  of 
  Moray). 
  The 
  New 
  Statistical 
  Account 
  speaks 
  of 
  

   them 
  as 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Kilmorack 
  (op. 
  cit. 
  xiv. 
  p. 
  365). 
  

   Mr. 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar 
  remembers 
  how 
  abundant 
  Magpies 
  were 
  forty- 
  

   six 
  years 
  ago 
  — 
  say 
  1848 
  — 
  in 
  the 
  wood 
  which 
  is 
  now 
  close 
  to 
  Gran- 
  

   town 
  Railway 
  Station, 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  nests 
  being 
  commonly 
  found 
  in 
  

   it. 
  Even 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  they 
  are 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  commoner 
  there 
  

   than 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  Strathspey. 
  We 
  have 
  met 
  with 
  very 
  few 
  

   indeed 
  anywhere, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  Laigh 
  of 
  Moray. 
  

  

  Its 
  natural 
  dispersal 
  would 
  be 
  more 
  general 
  and 
  extensive, 
  

   and 
  reach 
  farther 
  up 
  into 
  the 
  hilly 
  districts, 
  were 
  it 
  not 
  kept 
  in 
  

   check 
  by 
  keepers, 
  and 
  it 
  occurs 
  rarely 
  now 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  

   formerly. 
  It 
  is 
  occasionally 
  seen 
  above 
  Beldornie 
  on 
  the 
  Deveron, 
  

   1 
  Vide 
  Knox, 
  Autumns 
  on 
  the 
  Spey, 
  p. 
  146 
  ; 
  Vermin 
  List. 
  

  

  