﻿12 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  their 
  numbers, 
  if 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  actually 
  increasing. 
  Thus 
  at 
  Inver- 
  

   garry 
  Captain 
  Ellice 
  writes 
  us 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  increased 
  enormously, 
  

   and 
  threaten 
  to 
  destroy 
  the 
  grouse 
  altogether. 
  In 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  

   1887 
  two 
  keepers 
  killed 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  fifty-three 
  there 
  in 
  one 
  day 
  ! 
  

   In 
  another 
  letter 
  the 
  following 
  year 
  Captain 
  Ellice 
  again 
  remarks 
  

   on 
  the 
  very 
  great 
  abundance 
  of 
  these 
  vermin, 
  and 
  says 
  he 
  is 
  at 
  his 
  

   wit's 
  end 
  how 
  to 
  destroy 
  them. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  the 
  Hooded 
  Crow 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  such 
  a 
  

   common 
  species, 
  and 
  during 
  a 
  season 
  spent 
  at 
  Scotsburn, 
  in 
  the 
  

   east 
  of 
  Ross-shire, 
  they 
  were 
  anything 
  but 
  abundant. 
  We 
  do 
  not 
  

   think 
  they 
  were 
  so 
  numerous 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  as 
  on 
  the 
  west 
  coast, 
  

   or 
  yet 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  centre 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  though 
  we 
  cannot 
  give 
  any 
  

   reason 
  for 
  their 
  affecting 
  one 
  locality 
  more 
  than 
  another. 
  

  

  The 
  O.S.A. 
  mentions 
  the 
  1 
  Carrion 
  Crow 
  ' 
  in 
  the 
  south-west 
  

   of 
  the 
  area 
  and 
  in 
  Argyll. 
  Edward 
  says 
  : 
  1 
  Both 
  occur 
  in 
  about 
  

   equal 
  numbers 
  in 
  Banffshire.' 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  says 
  : 
  'Abundant, 
  

   and 
  breeding 
  in 
  the 
  forests 
  of 
  Darnawa} 
  7 
  -, 
  and 
  the 
  Hooded 
  Crow, 
  

   which 
  I 
  take 
  to 
  be 
  one 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  species 
  ; 
  wherever 
  they 
  

   are 
  they 
  pair 
  together.' 
  

  

  The 
  Carrion 
  Crow 
  is 
  not 
  abundant 
  in 
  Abernethy 
  Forest 
  — 
  ' 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  a 
  few 
  pairs 
  ' 
  (Hinxman) 
  — 
  and 
  it 
  occurs 
  around 
  Grantown 
  

   (Macleay's 
  lists). 
  Both 
  forms 
  nest 
  in 
  the 
  heronry 
  near 
  Tomatin, 
  

   Upper 
  Findhorn 
  (L. 
  M'Bean, 
  Esq. 
  of 
  Tomatin). 
  The 
  Hooded 
  

   Crow 
  is 
  much 
  the 
  more 
  abundant 
  form, 
  particularly 
  in 
  the 
  lower 
  

   and 
  better 
  cultivated 
  areas, 
  and 
  is 
  very 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  large 
  

   woods 
  of 
  Lower 
  Deveron 
  and 
  Middle 
  Deveron, 
  as, 
  for 
  instance, 
  

   about 
  Rothiemay, 
  Grange, 
  and 
  Cullen, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Bin 
  Wood 
  near 
  

   Huntly, 
  and 
  the 
  local 
  keepers 
  say 
  in 
  about 
  equal 
  numbers 
  with 
  

   the 
  so-called 
  Carrion 
  Crow, 
  or 
  1 
  Corbie.' 
  Not 
  many 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  

   seen 
  above 
  Beldornie 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  upper 
  reaches 
  of 
  Cabrach, 
  the 
  

   ground 
  there 
  being 
  too 
  well 
  preserved, 
  and 
  the 
  nesting 
  sites 
  in 
  

   the 
  Glen 
  Fiddich 
  deer-forest 
  and 
  Cam 
  district 
  not 
  being 
  so 
  

   numerous 
  as 
  in 
  most 
  Highland 
  estates. 
  

  

  The 
  vast 
  numbers 
  of 
  Hooded 
  Crows 
  killed 
  all 
  over 
  our 
  Scot- 
  

   tish 
  estates, 
  as 
  shown 
  by 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  statistics 
  in 
  our 
  pos- 
  

   session, 
  show 
  faint 
  results 
  and 
  scarcely 
  any 
  decrease 
  in 
  succeeding 
  

   years 
  ; 
  and 
  if 
  this 
  worst 
  of 
  vermin 
  be 
  left 
  alone 
  for 
  even 
  one 
  season 
  

   by 
  a 
  careless 
  or 
  lazy 
  gamekeeper 
  or 
  trapper, 
  their 
  numbers 
  are 
  

   again 
  promptly 
  replaced 
  from 
  continental 
  sources, 
  and 
  a 
  corre- 
  

  

  