﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  39 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  a 
  species 
  that 
  has 
  spread 
  immensely 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  

   forty 
  or 
  fifty 
  years. 
  T. 
  Macpherson 
  Grant 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  to 
  Dr. 
  

   Gordon, 
  December 
  1844, 
  says: 
  — 
  'Above 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago 
  one 
  

   was 
  found 
  sitting 
  in 
  an 
  empty 
  room 
  of 
  an 
  unfurnished 
  house 
  near 
  

   the 
  bridge 
  over 
  the 
  Spey 
  at 
  Craigellachie, 
  and 
  was 
  taken 
  alive. 
  It 
  

   was 
  given 
  to 
  me 
  as 
  an 
  unknown 
  bird, 
  and 
  was 
  kept 
  in 
  confinement 
  

   for 
  several 
  months. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  onl} 
  T 
  instance 
  within 
  my 
  know- 
  

   ledge 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  anywhere 
  in 
  the 
  north.' 
  

  

  Since 
  then 
  the 
  species 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  spread 
  all 
  through 
  our 
  

   area, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  notices 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  on 
  every 
  hand. 
  In 
  a 
  

   footnote 
  to 
  St. 
  John's 
  Sport 
  and 
  Natural 
  History 
  in 
  Moray, 
  p. 
  298, 
  

   the 
  editor 
  mentions 
  that 
  a 
  schoolboy 
  brought 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  White 
  

   Owls 
  from 
  England 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago 
  (previous 
  to 
  1863) 
  

   to 
  Nairn, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  increased, 
  their 
  first 
  independent 
  settle- 
  

   ment 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  tower 
  of 
  Kilravock. 
  

  

  In 
  1836 
  'a 
  live 
  specimen 
  was 
  taken 
  at 
  Pluscarden' 
  (Foljambe 
  

   in 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray). 
  The 
  Barn 
  Owl, 
  however, 
  even 
  at 
  present, 
  is 
  

   not 
  universally 
  admitted 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  common 
  bird. 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  

   very 
  seldom 
  receives 
  one 
  for 
  preservation 
  ; 
  the 
  last 
  he 
  got 
  was 
  on 
  

   May 
  2nd, 
  1888, 
  and 
  Hinxman 
  queries 
  its 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Glenlivet, 
  

   Inchrory, 
  or 
  Glen 
  Avon. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  again, 
  it 
  is 
  marked 
  

   as 
  common, 
  and 
  eggs 
  have 
  been 
  procured 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Stuart, 
  Grantown. 
  1 
  

   On 
  or 
  about 
  the 
  12th 
  October 
  a 
  very 
  fine 
  one 
  was 
  caught 
  at 
  

   Dalvey 
  in 
  a 
  pole 
  trap, 
  and 
  Captain 
  M'Leod 
  of 
  Dalvey 
  had 
  it 
  alive 
  

   in 
  a 
  cage 
  in 
  the 
  garden 
  (W. 
  Brown, 
  in 
  lit. 
  12th 
  November 
  1891). 
  

  

  But 
  in 
  recording 
  the 
  occurrences 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  a 
  certain 
  

   amount 
  of 
  care 
  must 
  be 
  taken. 
  Sim 
  sounds 
  a 
  warning, 
  and 
  says 
  

   in 
  lit. 
  :— 
  1 
  Care 
  must 
  be 
  taken 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  reported 
  occurrences 
  of 
  

   this 
  species. 
  The 
  Tawny 
  Owl,' 
  he 
  adds, 
  1 
  is 
  often 
  brought 
  to 
  me 
  

   and 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  the 
  Barn 
  Owl.' 
  We 
  have 
  not 
  ourselves 
  met 
  

   with 
  this 
  confusion 
  of 
  names, 
  but 
  since 
  Mr. 
  Sim's 
  warning 
  we 
  have 
  

   exercised 
  every 
  care 
  to 
  avoid 
  mistakes. 
  The 
  Barn 
  Owl 
  is 
  not 
  

   spoken 
  of 
  by 
  gamekeepers 
  on 
  Lower 
  Deveron 
  as 
  very 
  rare, 
  but 
  as 
  

   much 
  rarer 
  than 
  Tawny 
  and 
  Long-eared 
  Owls. 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  0. 
  Wilson 
  

   says, 
  ' 
  not 
  common 
  : 
  saw 
  one 
  fly 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  joist-hole 
  in 
  the 
  keep 
  of 
  

   the 
  old 
  castle 
  about 
  five 
  years 
  ago 
  : 
  one 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Carse 
  of 
  

   Kinnoir 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  and 
  the 
  stuffed 
  specimen 
  was 
  

  

  1 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Birds' 
  Kggs 
  in 
  collection 
  formed 
  around 
  (Jrantown 
  and 
  in 
  Strath- 
  

   spey 
  — 
  ms. 
  in 
  our 
  possession. 
  

  

  