﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  45 
  

  

  which 
  was 
  shot 
  there. 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  Craig 
  does 
  not 
  mention 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  

   Birds 
  of 
  Glen 
  Urquhart, 
  and 
  Mr. 
  Jennings 
  marks 
  it 
  as 
  ' 
  occasional 
  

   in 
  autumn 
  9 
  at 
  Tain. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  in 
  1844 
  designated 
  the 
  Hen 
  Harrier 
  the 
  most 
  

   abundant 
  and 
  destructive 
  of 
  our 
  larger 
  hawks, 
  and, 
  in 
  common 
  

   with 
  the 
  Peregrine 
  Falcon, 
  Buzzard, 
  and 
  Kite, 
  had 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   ' 
  Gled 
  ' 
  applied 
  to 
  it. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  male 
  that 
  is 
  the 
  ' 
  Grey 
  Gled 
  ' 
  

   (Fauna 
  of 
  Moray). 
  In 
  Dr. 
  Gordon's 
  later 
  edition 
  of 
  the 
  Fauna, 
  

   however, 
  it 
  is 
  spoken 
  of 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  A 
  Grey 
  Gled 
  seen 
  in 
  Mosstowie, 
  

   Jan. 
  1856 
  ; 
  now 
  very 
  rare.' 
  In 
  1857 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Robertson, 
  resid- 
  

   ing 
  near 
  Carr 
  Bridge, 
  took 
  a 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  moors 
  with 
  five 
  young 
  ones. 
  

   He 
  adds 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  As 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  remember, 
  there 
  were 
  twenty-three 
  young 
  

   Grouse 
  and 
  two 
  Ring-ouzels 
  beside 
  them. 
  I 
  killed 
  all 
  but 
  two, 
  

   which 
  I 
  took 
  home 
  and 
  put 
  in 
  a 
  cage 
  with 
  the 
  twenty-five 
  birds 
  

   on 
  a 
  Saturday 
  night, 
  and 
  on 
  Monday 
  the 
  whole 
  were 
  devoured, 
  

   which 
  proved 
  to 
  me 
  they 
  were 
  the 
  very 
  worst 
  vermin 
  we 
  could 
  

   have' 
  (in 
  lit). 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  ourselves 
  only 
  rarely 
  met 
  with 
  the 
  Hen 
  Harrier 
  

   within 
  our 
  Moray 
  area. 
  We 
  have 
  seen 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  high 
  moors 
  near 
  

   the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Findhorn 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  and 
  also 
  close 
  to 
  our 
  

   boundaries 
  in 
  the 
  south-west 
  around 
  Dalwhinnie 
  in 
  1884. 
  In 
  that 
  

   year 
  also 
  two 
  pairs 
  bred 
  near 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  Conglass 
  Water, 
  

   which 
  runs 
  into 
  Avon 
  near 
  Tomintoul, 
  as 
  related 
  to 
  Harvie-Brown 
  

   by 
  the 
  keeper 
  on 
  the 
  ground, 
  and 
  again 
  by 
  another 
  keeper 
  at 
  a 
  

   distance 
  ; 
  and 
  Hinxman 
  thinks 
  he 
  has 
  seen 
  it 
  also 
  in 
  Strathavon. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  J. 
  O. 
  Wilson 
  has 
  no 
  personal 
  acquaintance 
  with 
  it, 
  but 
  has 
  

   heard 
  of 
  its 
  nesting 
  on 
  the 
  Clashmach. 
  He 
  adds, 
  the 
  female 
  is 
  

   called 
  Ring-tail. 
  

  

  [Obs. 
  — 
  Circus 
  cineraceus 
  (Mont.). 
  Montagu's 
  Harrier. 
  — 
  ' 
  I 
  have 
  

   only 
  met 
  with 
  one 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  here. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  first-rate 
  speci- 
  

   men, 
  a 
  male, 
  and 
  a 
  very 
  pretty 
  bird,' 
  auct. 
  Edward. 
  (See 
  also 
  our 
  

   remarks 
  in 
  the 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  and 
  Caithness.)] 
  

  

  Buteo 
  vulgaris, 
  Leach, 
  Common 
  Buzzard. 
  

  

  Local 
  Name. 
  — 
  Gled. 
  

  

  Once 
  a 
  common 
  enough 
  resident, 
  where 
  the 
  trees 
  were 
  large 
  enough 
  

   or 
  the 
  country 
  rocky 
  enough 
  to 
  afford 
  nesting 
  sites. 
  It 
  has 
  

   become 
  much 
  rarer 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  ; 
  thus 
  at 
  Invergarry 
  only 
  one 
  

  

  