﻿44 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  The 
  Owl 
  which 
  I 
  allude 
  to 
  was 
  seen 
  in 
  a 
  tree 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  of 
  

   Brodie.' 
  

  

  [Obs. 
  — 
  Carine 
  noctm 
  (Scop.). 
  Little 
  Owl. 
  — 
  1 
  On 
  the 
  5th 
  of 
  July 
  

   1878, 
  at 
  9 
  p.m., 
  I 
  saw 
  a 
  small 
  owl 
  perch 
  for 
  a 
  little 
  on 
  a 
  pole 
  in 
  

   the 
  garden, 
  at 
  Manse 
  of 
  Birnie. 
  Perhaps 
  the 
  Little 
  Owl 
  9 
  (Rev. 
  

   G. 
  Gordon 
  in 
  MS.).] 
  

  

  Order 
  ACCIPITRES. 
  

  

  Family 
  FALCONIDiE. 
  

  

  [Obs. 
  — 
  Circus 
  caruginosus 
  (L.). 
  Marsh 
  Harrier. 
  — 
  'Specimens 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  

   are 
  occasionally 
  shot 
  in 
  this 
  neighbourhood' 
  (Edward, 
  Fauna 
  of 
  

   Banffshire, 
  Appendix), 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  included 
  as 
  a 
  breeding 
  species 
  in 
  

   Banff 
  by 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  G. 
  More, 
  in 
  his 
  paper 
  in 
  the 
  Ibis 
  for 
  1865, 
  on 
  

   'The 
  Distribution 
  of 
  Birds 
  in 
  Great 
  Britain 
  during 
  the 
  Nesting 
  

   Season,' 
  probably 
  on 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  Edward. 
  

  

  The 
  Marsh 
  Harrier 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  rare 
  bird 
  in 
  our 
  district, 
  and 
  we 
  

   have 
  no 
  other 
  record 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  than 
  the 
  above, 
  nor 
  have 
  

   we 
  any 
  notice 
  of 
  it 
  from 
  Macleay, 
  Inverness.] 
  

  

  Circus 
  cyaneus 
  (L.), 
  Hen 
  Harrier. 
  

  

  Much 
  rarer 
  than 
  formerly, 
  and 
  we 
  believe 
  they 
  are 
  almost, 
  if 
  not 
  

   quite, 
  extinct 
  in 
  the 
  Sutherland 
  portion 
  of 
  our 
  area. 
  Few 
  come 
  

   in 
  to 
  Inverness 
  for 
  preservation 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  what 
  was 
  the 
  

   case 
  some 
  years 
  ago 
  ; 
  and 
  this, 
  nowadays, 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  good 
  test 
  as 
  to 
  

   the 
  rarity 
  or 
  otherwise 
  of 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  of 
  Raptores, 
  Golden 
  

   Eagles 
  excepted. 
  In 
  1844, 
  and 
  previously, 
  this 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   commonest 
  birds 
  of 
  prey 
  in 
  the 
  low 
  country, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  only 
  

   seen 
  occasionally, 
  and 
  then 
  mostly 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  autumn. 
  St. 
  John 
  

   mentions 
  it 
  as 
  common 
  in 
  his 
  time 
  on 
  the 
  low 
  grounds 
  in 
  winter, 
  

   but 
  this 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  think 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  now. 
  

  

  Harriers 
  entirely 
  leave 
  the 
  high 
  ground 
  for 
  the 
  winter, 
  and 
  

   our 
  experience 
  is 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  common, 
  even 
  if 
  present 
  at 
  all, 
  

   on 
  the 
  low 
  ground 
  at 
  that 
  season. 
  The 
  old 
  males 
  are 
  not 
  much 
  

   seen 
  (or 
  noticed) 
  at 
  any 
  time, 
  unless 
  they 
  are 
  looked 
  for 
  near 
  the 
  

   nesting-places 
  during 
  the 
  breeding 
  season. 
  

  

  At 
  both 
  Guisaclian 
  and 
  Invergarry 
  the 
  Hen 
  Harrier 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  

   rare 
  bird. 
  At 
  the 
  latter 
  place 
  Mr. 
  Malcolm 
  has 
  only 
  seen 
  one 
  

  

  