﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  51 
  

  

  beneath 
  them 
  being 
  all 
  that 
  has 
  served 
  to 
  mark 
  the 
  spot.' 
  In 
  the 
  

   same 
  letter 
  the 
  writer 
  remarks 
  how 
  rarely 
  they 
  are 
  seen 
  at 
  his 
  

   residence, 
  Ballindalloch, 
  though 
  breeding 
  within 
  fifteen 
  miles 
  

   of 
  it, 
  and 
  remarks 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  far 
  from 
  rare 
  in 
  the 
  Badenoch 
  

   district. 
  

  

  The 
  O.S.A. 
  speaks 
  frequently 
  of 
  this 
  prominent 
  species 
  through- 
  

   out 
  Moray. 
  The 
  author 
  there 
  gives 
  as 
  old 
  localities 
  a 
  rock 
  on 
  the 
  

   Upper 
  Findhorn 
  in 
  the 
  parishes 
  of 
  Moy 
  and 
  Dalarossie, 
  which 
  

   has 
  since 
  been 
  pointed 
  out 
  to 
  Harvie-Brown 
  j 
  in 
  Glenavon, 
  where 
  

   from 
  recent 
  accounts 
  they 
  still 
  hold 
  their 
  eyrie, 
  and 
  in 
  Abernethy 
  

   and 
  Kincardine. 
  But 
  the 
  O.S.A. 
  is 
  silent 
  as 
  to 
  any 
  occurrences 
  of 
  

   eyries 
  on 
  the 
  Deveron 
  watershed. 
  Edward 
  repeats 
  the 
  oft-quoted 
  

   rocky 
  heights 
  near 
  Ben 
  Avon 
  (vide 
  Life, 
  p. 
  121), 
  and 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  

   bird 
  as 
  seen 
  hovering 
  about 
  the 
  sea-braes 
  between 
  Banff 
  and 
  Portsoy. 
  

   If 
  the 
  latter 
  record 
  is 
  correct, 
  which 
  we 
  are 
  much 
  inclined 
  to 
  doubt, 
  

   such 
  must 
  be 
  considered 
  as 
  migrants 
  from 
  abroad, 
  and 
  not 
  home- 
  

   bred 
  birds, 
  or 
  possibly 
  as 
  White-tailed 
  Eagles, 
  migrants 
  also 
  from 
  

   over 
  the 
  sea. 
  We 
  cannot 
  attach 
  much 
  importance 
  to 
  the 
  statement. 
  

  

  The 
  New 
  Statistical 
  Account 
  gives 
  the 
  west 
  side 
  of 
  Ben 
  Wyvis 
  

   on 
  the 
  Bealach 
  Mor 
  as 
  a 
  locality 
  in 
  1845. 
  

  

  In 
  1891 
  we 
  heard 
  of 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  Golden 
  Eagles 
  having 
  been 
  seen 
  

   on 
  the 
  braes 
  of 
  Glenlivet 
  and 
  Glen 
  Fiddich, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  good 
  

   proof 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  nested 
  in 
  the 
  Cam 
  district 
  of 
  Spey, 
  having 
  

   seen 
  wing-feathers 
  and 
  remains 
  of 
  an 
  egg 
  obtained 
  at 
  the 
  place 
  

   where 
  they 
  attempted 
  to 
  breed. 
  The 
  nearest 
  regularly 
  frequented 
  

   eyrie, 
  however, 
  is 
  far 
  up 
  among 
  the 
  mountains, 
  and 
  the 
  nearest 
  

   named 
  was 
  Loch 
  Avon. 
  When 
  Mr. 
  T. 
  Macpherson 
  Grant 
  wrote 
  

   about 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  Ben 
  Rinnes 
  eyrie, 
  he 
  also 
  undoubtedly 
  

   referred 
  to 
  that 
  far-off 
  eyrie 
  as 
  the 
  nearest 
  known 
  to 
  him 
  at 
  that 
  

   time. 
  Hinxman 
  says 
  that 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  eyries 
  are 
  occupied 
  among 
  

   the 
  hills 
  around 
  Loch 
  Avon, 
  and 
  we 
  have 
  abundant 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  

   nesting 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  of 
  several 
  pairs 
  along 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  

   Cairngorms, 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  fond 
  of 
  hunting 
  rabbits 
  along 
  

   the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Foal's 
  Crag 
  below 
  Inchrory. 
  It 
  will 
  not 
  therefore 
  

   be 
  surprising 
  if 
  these 
  birds 
  increase, 
  and 
  if 
  they 
  begin 
  to 
  occupy 
  

   new 
  lands, 
  even 
  at 
  lower 
  elevations, 
  of 
  the 
  Carn 
  district. 
  This 
  

   district, 
  however, 
  does 
  not 
  possess 
  unlimited 
  sites 
  of 
  sufficient 
  

   security, 
  such 
  — 
  as 
  we 
  hav 
  e 
  indicated 
  in 
  our 
  topographical 
  chapters 
  

   —indeed, 
  being 
  extremely 
  rare. 
  

  

  