﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  

  

  nesting 
  sites. 
  We 
  are 
  inclined 
  to 
  doubt 
  whether 
  this 
  increase 
  is 
  

   an 
  unmixed 
  blessing 
  either 
  to 
  farmers 
  or 
  game-preservers. 
  About 
  

   Dunrobin 
  they 
  are 
  kept 
  down 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  possible, 
  but 
  are 
  very 
  

   abundant 
  in 
  the 
  soft 
  sandstone 
  rocks 
  between 
  Brora 
  and 
  Loth, 
  

   building 
  in 
  the 
  ledges 
  and 
  rabbit-holes. 
  

  

  One 
  curious 
  nesting-place 
  of 
  the 
  Jackdaw 
  is 
  (or 
  was 
  in 
  1887) 
  

   the 
  new 
  but 
  never 
  finished 
  house 
  on 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  Shandwick 
  

   near 
  Kildary. 
  We 
  went 
  through 
  the 
  place 
  one 
  day 
  in 
  summer 
  

   after 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  was 
  over. 
  The 
  floors 
  were 
  littered 
  with 
  

   nests, 
  the 
  birds 
  having 
  obtained 
  entrance 
  through 
  the 
  broken 
  

   panes 
  of 
  glass, 
  giving 
  the 
  place 
  a 
  look 
  even 
  more 
  untidy 
  than 
  the 
  

   state 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  had 
  originally 
  been 
  left 
  by 
  the 
  carpenters. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Malcolm 
  tells 
  us 
  Jackdaws 
  are 
  commoner 
  now 
  than 
  

   they 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  at 
  Invergarry, 
  and 
  now 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  rocks 
  at 
  

   Kylethy. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  O.S.A. 
  ; 
  Edward 
  says 
  

   it 
  is 
  very 
  plentiful 
  in 
  Banffshire. 
  

  

  St. 
  John, 
  in 
  1847, 
  remarked 
  that 
  the 
  Jackdaws 
  bred 
  numerously 
  

   in 
  the 
  Findhorn 
  rocks 
  opposite 
  the 
  heronry, 
  and 
  were 
  con- 
  

   tinually 
  raiding 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  birds. 
  They 
  were 
  also 
  

   common 
  at 
  Elgin, 
  building 
  their 
  nests 
  in 
  the 
  ruins 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  

   cathedral. 
  

  

  In 
  many 
  districts 
  south 
  of 
  Inverness, 
  the 
  Jackdaw 
  is 
  resident, 
  

   numerous, 
  increasing, 
  and 
  assertive. 
  There 
  are 
  1 
  Colonies 
  1 
  in 
  

   Huntly 
  Castle 
  ruins, 
  in 
  the 
  silver 
  firs 
  at 
  Rothiemay 
  House, 
  and 
  

   indeed 
  in 
  every 
  vantage-ground 
  they 
  can 
  find, 
  such 
  as 
  rocky 
  

   scaurs, 
  disintegrating 
  rocks 
  on 
  hillsides, 
  etc. 
  They 
  are 
  abundant 
  

   on 
  Speyside, 
  Strathspey, 
  but 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  observed 
  at 
  Upper 
  or 
  

   Lower 
  Cabrach, 
  nor 
  to 
  any 
  great 
  extent 
  in 
  the 
  Cam 
  districts, 
  yet. 
  

   The 
  species 
  is 
  common 
  on 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  rocky 
  woodland 
  above 
  

   the 
  railway 
  tunnels 
  at 
  Craigellachie 
  and 
  near 
  Aberlour, 
  on 
  the 
  

   rocks 
  below 
  Craigellachie, 
  and 
  as 
  high 
  up 
  Strathspey 
  as 
  Kingussie 
  

   in 
  the 
  old 
  ruinous 
  castles, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  pass 
  of 
  the 
  Dhucraig 
  in 
  

   Upper 
  Badenoch. 
  High 
  up 
  the 
  deeper 
  glens 
  of 
  Strathavon, 
  it 
  is 
  

   abundant 
  at 
  Tomintoul, 
  in 
  Delnabo 
  glen. 
  Jackdaws 
  breed 
  in 
  

   rabbit-holes 
  near 
  Carron 
  on 
  the 
  Spey, 
  and 
  in 
  sandbanks 
  along 
  the 
  

   rivers. 
  In 
  Glenlivet 
  it 
  is 
  somewhat 
  local, 
  but 
  breeds 
  in 
  the 
  castles 
  

   of 
  Drumin, 
  Strathavon, 
  and 
  Blairfindy. 
  

  

  In 
  1850 
  the 
  Jackdaw 
  is 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  only 
  1 
  probably 
  breeding 
  

  

  