﻿38 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  and 
  thickets. 
  In 
  1885 
  the 
  Cuckoo 
  was 
  first 
  heard 
  on 
  the 
  Fiddich 
  

   on 
  May 
  6th 
  by 
  our 
  friend 
  C. 
  G. 
  Danford 
  when 
  fishing 
  the 
  sheltered 
  

   lower 
  reaches 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  for 
  trout. 
  The 
  weather 
  was 
  bitterly 
  

   cold, 
  and 
  Ben 
  Kinnes 
  white 
  under 
  snow-fall, 
  and 
  snow 
  falling 
  in 
  

   the 
  pools 
  which 
  we 
  were 
  fishing. 
  This 
  Gowk 
  Storm 
  is 
  said 
  always 
  

   to 
  herald 
  the 
  first 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  Cuckoo. 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  year 
  (1885) 
  

   Dr. 
  Gordon 
  heard 
  it 
  first 
  at 
  Birnie 
  on 
  the 
  8 
  th 
  May. 
  

  

  An 
  increase 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  occurred 
  at 
  the 
  Lower 
  Cabrach 
  valley 
  

   in 
  1892, 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  still 
  further 
  accentuated 
  in 
  1893 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   place. 
  Hinxman 
  records 
  a 
  similar 
  increase 
  and 
  abundance 
  at 
  

   Inchrory, 
  and 
  saw 
  one 
  almost 
  on 
  the 
  highest 
  part 
  of 
  Beinn-a- 
  

   Bhuird, 
  3900 
  feet, 
  on 
  July 
  3rd. 
  

  

  Order 
  STRIGES. 
  

  

  Family 
  STRIGIDiE. 
  

  

  Strix 
  fiammea, 
  L. 
  Barn 
  Owl. 
  

  

  Local 
  Names. 
  — 
  (For 
  all 
  Owls) 
  Oolets 
  (Gregor). 
  

  

  The 
  Barn 
  Owl 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  extended 
  its 
  breeding 
  range 
  

   as 
  yet 
  to 
  the 
  northward, 
  at 
  least 
  we 
  have 
  received 
  no 
  notes 
  of 
  its 
  

   having 
  done 
  so. 
  It 
  has 
  occurred 
  in 
  the 
  north-east 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  on 
  

   several 
  occasions 
  {Fauna 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  p. 
  159). 
  A 
  

   dead 
  one 
  was 
  picked 
  up 
  at 
  Badenloch 
  in 
  April 
  1890, 
  as 
  recorded 
  

   in 
  the 
  Annals 
  of 
  Scottish 
  Natural 
  History, 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  161. 
  In 
  the 
  

   spring 
  of 
  1892 
  a 
  pair 
  was 
  seen 
  at 
  Kintradwell, 
  Brora, 
  and 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  birds 
  was 
  shot 
  by 
  the 
  keeper 
  (who 
  did 
  not 
  know 
  what 
  kind 
  of 
  

   bird 
  it 
  was, 
  never 
  having 
  seen 
  one 
  before), 
  much 
  to 
  the 
  regret 
  

   of 
  the 
  lessee, 
  Mr. 
  Houstoun. 
  On 
  October 
  14th, 
  1894, 
  Barn 
  Owls 
  

   were 
  heard 
  at 
  Golspie. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  notes 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  from 
  such 
  different 
  

   points 
  as 
  Invergarry, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  breed, 
  Fort 
  Augustus, 
  

   Guisachan, 
  Alness, 
  and 
  Forres; 
  from 
  Fort 
  Augustus 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  

   1850; 
  from 
  the 
  other 
  places 
  mentioned, 
  except 
  Forres, 
  much 
  

   later; 
  thus 
  showing 
  that, 
  although 
  the 
  bird 
  cannot 
  be 
  called 
  

   common, 
  it 
  is 
  widely 
  spread. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Craig 
  says 
  that 
  at 
  Glen 
  Urquhart 
  the 
  Barn 
  Owl 
  is 
  much 
  

   thinned 
  out 
  by 
  trapping 
  (1892) 
  ; 
  this 
  seems 
  to 
  imply 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  

   common, 
  or 
  it 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  only 
  a 
  repetition 
  of 
  hearsay. 
  

  

  