﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  43 
  

  

  this 
  country.' 
  1 
  Gray, 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  p. 
  62, 
  mentions 
  

   a 
  specimen 
  that 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Loch 
  Ness 
  on 
  October 
  1868. 
  Another 
  

   specimen 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  Macleay, 
  Inverness, 
  by 
  Tomlinson, 
  from 
  

   Knockie, 
  in 
  November 
  1859. 
  

  

  Edward, 
  in 
  the 
  Appendix 
  to 
  his 
  Banffshire 
  Fauna, 
  gives 
  an 
  

   account 
  of 
  the 
  finding 
  the 
  nest 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  a 
  sea-cave 
  near 
  

   Cullen 
  on 
  the 
  Banffshire 
  coast 
  — 
  which 
  is 
  beyond 
  credit, 
  however. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  of 
  Birnie 
  mentions 
  two 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  Snowy 
  

   Owl 
  taken 
  in 
  Morayshire, 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  Culbin 
  Sands 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  

   of 
  1833, 
  after 
  a 
  severe 
  gale 
  from 
  the 
  north-east; 
  the 
  other 
  was 
  

   found 
  1 
  about 
  four 
  years 
  ago 
  ' 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  

   near 
  Innes 
  House 
  (vide 
  Zoologist, 
  1847), 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  Statistical 
  

   Account 
  probably 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  specimen 
  as 
  obtained 
  among 
  

   the 
  sandhills 
  (vol. 
  xiii. 
  p. 
  220, 
  parish 
  of 
  Dyke 
  and 
  Moray). 
  

  

  The 
  last 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  obtained 
  in 
  our 
  area 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Cawdor 
  

   in 
  December 
  1892, 
  and 
  seen 
  by 
  ourselves 
  in 
  Macleay 
  's 
  shop. 
  

  

  Scops 
  giu 
  (Scop.). 
  Scops-eared 
  Owl. 
  

  

  The 
  only 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  in 
  our 
  area 
  that 
  we 
  

   know 
  of 
  is 
  the 
  one 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  us 
  in 
  a 
  previous 
  volume 
  (Fauna 
  of 
  

   Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  p. 
  163) 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  shot 
  at 
  Morvich 
  in 
  

   the 
  latter 
  end 
  of 
  May 
  1854, 
  and 
  mentioned 
  in 
  the 
  Proceedings 
  of 
  

   the 
  Royal 
  Physical 
  Society, 
  Edinburgh, 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  4. 
  

  

  But 
  on 
  the 
  24th 
  October 
  1856 
  Mr. 
  R. 
  Small 
  of 
  Edinburgh 
  

   entered 
  the 
  note 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  Scops-eared 
  Owl, 
  Morayshire 
  (not 
  sure) 
  ' 
  ; 
  and 
  

   we 
  are 
  indebted 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Small 
  for 
  a 
  copy 
  of 
  the 
  list 
  of 
  varieties 
  

   which 
  have 
  passed 
  through 
  his 
  hands 
  between 
  the 
  dates 
  of 
  April 
  

   26, 
  1854, 
  and 
  November 
  16, 
  1886, 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  often 
  found 
  

   most 
  useful 
  and 
  valuable. 
  Further 
  inquiries 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  case, 
  

   however, 
  failed 
  to 
  elicit 
  particulars 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  ownership 
  or 
  destina- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  specimen. 
  

  

  Bubo 
  ignavus, 
  FortL 
  Eagle 
  Owl. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  Natural 
  History 
  and 
  Sport 
  in 
  Moray, 
  St. 
  John 
  says, 
  p. 
  299 
  : 
  — 
  

   *I 
  have 
  only 
  known 
  one 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  Eagle 
  Owl 
  (Bubo 
  maximum) 
  

   being 
  seen 
  in 
  this 
  district, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  then 
  captured 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  

   description 
  given 
  to 
  me 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  applied 
  to 
  any 
  other 
  bird. 
  

  

  1 
  See 
  also 
  Wild 
  Sports 
  of 
  the 
  Highlands, 
  p. 
  7 
  J 
  

  

  