﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  not 
  think 
  myself 
  that 
  the 
  collection 
  was 
  ever 
  broken. 
  Still, 
  

   of 
  course, 
  a 
  clutch 
  such 
  as 
  you 
  mention 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  given 
  

  

  away.' 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar 
  also, 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  letters 
  to 
  us, 
  speaks 
  of 
  

   two 
  or 
  three 
  pairs 
  of 
  Great 
  Spotted 
  Woodpeckers 
  breeding 
  in 
  the 
  

   old 
  woods 
  of 
  Crannach, 
  Glenmore, 
  Glenfeshie, 
  and 
  the 
  upper 
  woods 
  

   of 
  Abernethy 
  • 
  but 
  as 
  he 
  left 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  1853 
  he 
  can 
  say 
  

   nothing 
  about 
  the 
  birds 
  in 
  that 
  quarter 
  since. 
  

  

  Booth 
  writes 
  (Rough 
  Notes, 
  vol. 
  i.) 
  that, 
  'According 
  to 
  the 
  

   statements 
  of 
  my 
  informants, 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  these 
  Woodpeckers 
  

   commenced 
  to 
  decrease 
  in 
  numbers 
  about 
  1845 
  or 
  1850. 
  In 
  many 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  only 
  an 
  occasional 
  straggler 
  was 
  seen 
  for 
  

   nearly 
  thirty 
  years. 
  I 
  discovered, 
  however, 
  in 
  passing 
  through 
  

   several 
  of 
  these 
  localities 
  in 
  1878 
  and 
  1879, 
  that 
  a 
  few 
  pairs 
  had 
  

   lately 
  taken 
  up 
  their 
  quarters 
  in 
  their 
  long-deserted 
  haunts. 
  The 
  

   cause 
  of 
  their 
  disappearance, 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  instance, 
  was 
  perfectly 
  

   unaccountable 
  to 
  all 
  those 
  with 
  whom 
  I 
  conversed 
  on 
  the 
  subject. 
  

   It 
  does 
  not 
  appear, 
  however, 
  from 
  the 
  foregoing, 
  that 
  Booth 
  

   actually 
  took 
  or 
  even 
  saw 
  a 
  nest. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Gordon, 
  in 
  his 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray, 
  states 
  that 
  1 
  two 
  specimens 
  

   were 
  procured 
  in 
  1838 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Wink 
  from 
  the 
  woods 
  of 
  Castle 
  

   Grant, 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  inhabit.' 
  Dr. 
  Gordon, 
  

   writing 
  to 
  Harvie-Brown 
  later, 
  adds 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  I 
  can 
  well 
  recollect 
  that 
  

   Mr. 
  Wink, 
  when 
  I 
  asked 
  him, 
  had 
  no 
  doubt 
  of 
  getting 
  specimens 
  

   from 
  the 
  gamekeeper, 
  which 
  he 
  did.' 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  of 
  1867-68 
  Gray 
  examined 
  speci- 
  

   mens 
  shot 
  in 
  the 
  counties 
  of 
  Banff, 
  Aberdeen, 
  and 
  Inverness. 
  1 
  

  

  Of 
  late 
  years 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  occasional 
  re- 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  in 
  their 
  old 
  haunts, 
  and 
  of 
  their 
  linger- 
  

   ing 
  far 
  on 
  into 
  the 
  breeding 
  season. 
  Of 
  their 
  occurrence 
  in 
  

   autumn 
  and 
  winter 
  in 
  droves 
  we 
  have 
  many 
  seasons' 
  records. 
  

   Indeed, 
  all 
  our 
  own 
  records 
  since 
  we 
  began 
  to 
  pay 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  

   fauna 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  area 
  relate 
  to 
  these 
  autumnal 
  migrations, 
  

   except 
  on 
  one 
  occasion, 
  when 
  Harvie-Brown's 
  mother 
  saw 
  a 
  bird 
  

   on 
  May 
  15th, 
  1884, 
  between 
  Aberlour 
  and 
  Carron, 
  in 
  Strathspey, 
  

   'about 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  Blackbird, 
  which 
  flew 
  across 
  the 
  road, 
  and 
  

   alighted 
  on 
  the 
  bark 
  of 
  a 
  tree, 
  and 
  began 
  climbing 
  up 
  spirally.' 
  

   She 
  further 
  described 
  it 
  as 
  ' 
  spotted 
  with 
  white,' 
  and 
  as 
  1 
  having 
  

   1 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  p. 
  190. 
  

  

  