﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  as 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  — 
  'It 
  is 
  not 
  uncommon 
  in 
  the 
  mountainous 
  parts 
  

   of 
  Scotland 
  ; 
  particularly 
  it 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  breed 
  in 
  the 
  Forest 
  of 
  

   Rothiemurchus 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  woody 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Dee. 
  Goshawks 
  

   are 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  numerous 
  in 
  the 
  Orkney 
  Islands 
  ' 
  (Montagu, 
  quoted 
  

   by 
  Bellamy). 
  1 
  But 
  of 
  other 
  independent 
  accounts, 
  we 
  can 
  

   assuredly 
  trust 
  that 
  of 
  St. 
  John. 
  In 
  1849 
  he 
  wrote 
  : 
  — 
  'The 
  only 
  

   place 
  where 
  I 
  know 
  of 
  its 
  breeding 
  regularly 
  is 
  the 
  Forest 
  of 
  

   Darn 
  away 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  am 
  told 
  that 
  they 
  also 
  breed 
  in 
  the 
  large 
  fir- 
  

   woods 
  near 
  the 
  Spey.' 
  2 
  

  

  Later 
  — 
  viz., 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  edition 
  of 
  St. 
  John's 
  Natural 
  History 
  and 
  

   Sport 
  in 
  Moray, 
  edited 
  by 
  Innes, 
  and 
  in 
  subsequent 
  editions 
  — 
  the 
  

   above 
  reading 
  is 
  changed 
  somewhat 
  (the 
  latest 
  edition, 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  

   informed 
  in 
  the 
  Preface, 
  ' 
  having 
  been 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  entries 
  in 
  his 
  

   journals 
  and 
  note-books, 
  incidents 
  related 
  in 
  letters 
  to 
  his 
  friends, 
  

   and 
  a 
  careful 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  of 
  Moray 
  which 
  he 
  left 
  in 
  

   MS. 
  with 
  these 
  materials, 
  hitherto 
  unpublished,' 
  etc. 
  etc. 
  (op. 
  tit. 
  

   Preface, 
  p. 
  vii). 
  The 
  record 
  then 
  stood 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  The 
  Goshawk 
  is 
  

   now 
  nearly 
  extinct 
  in 
  this 
  country. 
  A 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  it 
  bred 
  

   regularly 
  in 
  the 
  Forest 
  of 
  Darnaway, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  still 
  do 
  so. 
  It 
  

   also 
  breeds 
  in 
  the 
  Forest 
  of 
  Glenmore, 
  near 
  Grantown 
  on 
  the 
  

   Spey.' 
  

  

  The 
  carefulness 
  of 
  the 
  wording 
  at 
  the 
  different 
  dates 
  is 
  itself 
  a 
  

   testimony 
  to 
  the 
  accuracy 
  of 
  St. 
  John, 
  and 
  we 
  are 
  informed 
  that 
  

   the 
  above-mentioned 
  MS. 
  on 
  folio 
  sheets, 
  though 
  undated, 
  was 
  of 
  

   course 
  written 
  before 
  1856, 
  when 
  St. 
  John 
  died, 
  and 
  probably 
  

   after 
  1844. 
  

  

  St. 
  John, 
  however, 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  actually 
  to 
  have 
  found 
  a 
  

   nest, 
  as 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  — 
  at 
  present 
  in 
  our 
  possession 
  — 
  from 
  him 
  to 
  

   Dr. 
  Gordon, 
  dated 
  Invererne, 
  3 
  20/ix/44, 
  he 
  says: 
  — 
  'A 
  nest 
  has 
  

   been 
  described 
  to 
  me 
  as 
  found 
  in 
  Darnaway, 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  doubt 
  

   is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Goshawk 
  ' 
  (the 
  italics 
  are 
  ours). 
  

  

  Later 
  statements 
  concerning 
  the 
  breeding 
  of 
  the 
  Goshawk 
  can 
  

   only 
  be 
  viewed 
  with 
  great 
  suspicion, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  confusion 
  

   caused 
  by 
  calling 
  Peregrine 
  Falcons 
  ' 
  Goshawks,' 
  as 
  already 
  men- 
  

   tioned. 
  Mr. 
  Edward 
  mentions 
  three 
  Goshawks 
  (?) 
  in 
  his 
  appendix 
  

  

  A 
  Treatise 
  upon 
  Falconry 
  ; 
  Berwick-on-Tweed, 
  1841. 
  

  

  A 
  Tour 
  in 
  Sutherlandshire, 
  vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  15 
  ; 
  first 
  edition, 
  1849. 
  

  

  Invererne 
  is 
  near 
  Forres, 
  where 
  St. 
  John 
  resided 
  when 
  he 
  first 
  took 
  up 
  his 
  

  

  ers 
  in 
  Moray. 
  

  

  