﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  59 
  

  

  to 
  the 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Banffshire, 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  One 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Tomintoul 
  

   a 
  short 
  time 
  ago 
  and 
  two 
  others, 
  one 
  at 
  Hilton, 
  the 
  other 
  at 
  

   Macduff.' 
  

  

  Macleay, 
  1 
  the 
  well-known 
  birdstuffer 
  of 
  Inverness, 
  told 
  us 
  

   that 
  he 
  never 
  had 
  but 
  one 
  specimen 
  of 
  a 
  Goshawk 
  through 
  his 
  

   hands. 
  In 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1859 
  an 
  adult 
  female 
  was 
  caught 
  by 
  an 
  

   old 
  woman 
  who 
  was 
  gathering 
  sticks 
  in 
  Tor 
  Vean, 
  close 
  to 
  Inver- 
  

   ness 
  ; 
  it 
  came 
  into 
  Macleay's 
  hands, 
  who 
  stuffed 
  it, 
  and 
  who 
  

   placed 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  case 
  with 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  hawks, 
  

   amongst 
  which 
  was 
  a 
  Kite. 
  The 
  case 
  was 
  afterwards 
  sold 
  to 
  Sir 
  

   Arthur 
  Chichester, 
  Bart. 
  

  

  In 
  1892 
  Harvie-Brown 
  visited 
  the 
  ancient 
  site 
  of 
  a 
  veritable 
  

   Goshawk's 
  nest 
  in 
  Rothiemurchus 
  and 
  Glenmore, 
  or, 
  at 
  least, 
  what 
  

   was 
  very 
  decidedly 
  stated 
  to 
  be 
  such, 
  and 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  

   worth 
  while 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  short 
  account 
  :— 
  Within 
  about 
  forty 
  yards 
  

   from 
  an 
  old 
  pine, 
  which 
  contained 
  many 
  borings 
  of 
  Woodpeckers 
  

   — 
  and 
  from 
  which 
  we 
  had 
  obtained 
  a 
  limb, 
  — 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  'Riever's 
  

   Road,' 
  near 
  the 
  Rothiemurchus 
  and 
  Glenmore 
  march, 
  the 
  old 
  stock 
  

   of 
  a 
  pine 
  was 
  pointed 
  out 
  to 
  us 
  by 
  G. 
  G. 
  as 
  being 
  one 
  of 
  consider- 
  

   able 
  interest. 
  The 
  tree, 
  before 
  it 
  was 
  cut 
  down, 
  was 
  one 
  which, 
  

   according 
  to 
  a 
  tradition 
  handed 
  down 
  to 
  our 
  informant 
  by 
  his 
  father 
  

   — 
  still 
  alive, 
  1892, 
  — 
  contained 
  a 
  nest 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  Goshawk. 
  What 
  

   now 
  remains 
  is 
  a 
  mere 
  stump, 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  feet 
  high, 
  similar 
  to 
  

   that 
  in 
  which 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  day 
  we 
  took 
  a 
  Crested 
  Tit's 
  egg. 
  

   Since 
  its 
  early 
  occupation 
  by 
  the 
  Goshawks 
  it 
  was 
  tenanted 
  by 
  

   Kites. 
  The 
  then 
  keeper 
  (thirty 
  years 
  ago) 
  having 
  set 
  a 
  trap 
  

   and 
  caught 
  the 
  Kite, 
  forgot 
  to 
  look 
  at 
  his 
  trap, 
  and 
  an 
  old 
  

   Spey 
  fisherman 
  found 
  it 
  hanging 
  there, 
  and, 
  as 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  

   climb, 
  he 
  got 
  an 
  axe 
  and 
  cut 
  it 
  down, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  secure 
  the 
  

   Kite's 
  feathers 
  for 
  salmon 
  flies 
  — 
  so 
  runs 
  the 
  story. 
  If 
  true, 
  

   thus 
  disappeared 
  the 
  probable 
  last 
  nesting 
  site 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  Gos- 
  

   hawk 
  in 
  Scotland, 
  and 
  amongst 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Kite. 
  

   All 
  such 
  tales, 
  however, 
  as 
  all 
  scientific 
  naturalists 
  know, 
  must 
  be 
  

   taken 
  for 
  what 
  they 
  are 
  worth. 
  

  

  i 
  Died 
  hi 
  1892. 
  

  

  