﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  23 
  

  

  earlier 
  migration 
  of 
  Swifts, 
  as 
  with 
  other 
  species. 
  We 
  observed 
  

   four 
  at 
  Netherdale, 
  on 
  the 
  Lower 
  Deveron, 
  upon 
  the 
  13th 
  May 
  — 
  

   an 
  early 
  arrival. 
  Afterwards 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  assured 
  us 
  1 
  his 
  pair 
  

   of 
  Swifts 
  ' 
  arrived 
  at 
  his 
  house 
  upon 
  the 
  3rd 
  May, 
  whereas, 
  as 
  we 
  

   have 
  already 
  seen, 
  their 
  usual 
  advent 
  takes 
  place 
  between 
  the 
  18th 
  

   and 
  20th, 
  and 
  that 
  with 
  great 
  punctuality, 
  usually 
  between 
  five 
  

   and 
  seven 
  P.M. 
  1 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Eagle-Clarke 
  heard 
  one 
  which 
  was 
  flying 
  over 
  Loch 
  Builg 
  

   (1600 
  feet) 
  on 
  a 
  wild, 
  stormy 
  day 
  in 
  June 
  1893, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  our- 
  

   selves 
  seen 
  them 
  at 
  very 
  great 
  elevations, 
  decidedly 
  on 
  passage. 
  

  

  The 
  Swifts 
  arrived 
  in 
  Forres 
  on 
  10th 
  May 
  1895. 
  

  

  Family 
  CAPRIMULGIDiE. 
  

  

  Caprimulgus 
  europaeus, 
  L. 
  Nightjar. 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  north-east 
  of 
  Moray 
  the 
  Nightjar 
  is 
  a 
  variable 
  summer 
  

   migrant, 
  possibly 
  not 
  so 
  common 
  now 
  about 
  Brora 
  and 
  in 
  other 
  

   parts 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  some 
  fifteen 
  or 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago. 
  

   Mr. 
  Baillie 
  tells 
  us 
  it 
  was 
  rare 
  in 
  or 
  absent 
  from 
  the 
  neighbour- 
  

   hood 
  of 
  Brora 
  in 
  1890, 
  and 
  again 
  in 
  1892, 
  but 
  he 
  found 
  a 
  nest 
  

   with 
  two 
  young 
  birds, 
  just 
  hatched, 
  near 
  that 
  place 
  in 
  1891. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  that 
  Hepburn 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  notice 
  

   as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  Loch 
  Ness 
  in 
  1847. 
  The 
  Nightjar 
  is 
  now 
  widely 
  

   distributed 
  almost 
  everywhere 
  throughout 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  our 
  

   present 
  area, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  notes 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  from 
  Tain 
  in 
  the 
  

   north 
  all 
  the 
  way 
  to 
  Invergarry. 
  They 
  were 
  very 
  common 
  near 
  

   Scotsburn, 
  and 
  on 
  several 
  occasions 
  we 
  used 
  to 
  go 
  out 
  to 
  a 
  patch 
  

   of 
  heather 
  near 
  the 
  house 
  on 
  a 
  fine 
  summer's 
  night 
  to 
  hear 
  these 
  

   birds 
  uttering 
  their 
  jarring 
  note, 
  or 
  watch 
  them 
  flitting 
  past 
  us, 
  

   often 
  so 
  close 
  as 
  almost 
  to 
  touch 
  us. 
  

  

  The 
  O.S.A. 
  mentions 
  the 
  Nightjar 
  at 
  Kirkhill, 
  in 
  north-west 
  

   Moray, 
  and 
  Colonel 
  Thornton 
  also 
  includes 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  Tour. 
  Edward 
  

   says 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  Of 
  late 
  years 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  become 
  more 
  numerous, 
  but 
  

   is 
  still 
  far 
  from 
  plentiful.' 
  Smith 
  speaks 
  of 
  it 
  as 
  occasional. 
  

   There 
  is 
  a 
  specimen 
  in 
  the 
  Banff 
  Museum. 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  O. 
  Wilson 
  does 
  

   not 
  include 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  list 
  of 
  birds 
  around 
  Huntly, 
  and 
  only 
  quotes 
  

   Edward. 
  

  

  1 
  We 
  have 
  also 
  noticed 
  that 
  the 
  House 
  Martin 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  abundant 
  in 
  

   the 
  north-east 
  of 
  Scotland 
  in 
  a 
  cold 
  season 
  (see 
  under 
  Martin). 
  

  

  