﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  G5 
  

  

  little 
  doubt 
  L. 
  D.'s 
  Kite's 
  tree 
  amongst 
  them, 
  and 
  the 
  old 
  blae- 
  

   berry-covered 
  stoles 
  and 
  stumps 
  also 
  indicated 
  where 
  many 
  had 
  

   been 
  cut. 
  The 
  remains 
  of 
  a 
  chop-stick 
  house, 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  

   there 
  in 
  1846, 
  showed 
  how 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  timber 
  had 
  been 
  dis- 
  

   posed 
  of, 
  and 
  heaps 
  of 
  old 
  roots 
  showed 
  also 
  where 
  the 
  blown 
  

   timber 
  had 
  been 
  drawn 
  together.' 
  Later, 
  on 
  another 
  day, 
  during 
  

   a 
  visit 
  to 
  Templeton 
  — 
  thirty-five 
  years 
  gamekeeper 
  in 
  the 
  Seafield 
  

   family 
  at 
  Cullen 
  and 
  Gran 
  town, 
  and 
  since 
  deceased 
  — 
  he 
  verified 
  

   Dunbar's 
  location 
  of 
  the 
  Kite's 
  tree 
  below 
  the 
  Ladies' 
  Bridge. 
  He 
  

   — 
  Templeton 
  — 
  shot 
  both 
  birds, 
  the 
  male 
  as 
  it 
  came 
  to 
  the 
  nest, 
  

   and 
  the 
  female 
  as 
  it 
  flew 
  off 
  the 
  nest. 
  The 
  tree, 
  he 
  said, 
  1 
  had 
  

   been 
  cut 
  down.' 
  

  

  No 
  doubt 
  this 
  was 
  the 
  last 
  nest 
  found 
  on 
  Castle 
  Grant 
  grounds. 
  

   These 
  records 
  have 
  rather 
  a 
  melancholy, 
  if 
  interesting, 
  signifi- 
  

   cance. 
  In 
  1892 
  Harvie-Brown 
  visited 
  several 
  other 
  localities 
  

   formerly 
  frequented 
  by 
  Kites, 
  not 
  earnestly 
  searching 
  for 
  new 
  

   ones 
  (which 
  he 
  thinks 
  are 
  of 
  less 
  interest 
  in 
  some 
  respects 
  than 
  

   old 
  ones, 
  and 
  wishes 
  other 
  ' 
  collectors 
  ' 
  did 
  the 
  same), 
  but 
  to 
  form 
  

   some 
  idea 
  of 
  their 
  former 
  abundance 
  and 
  history. 
  

  

  Pernis 
  apivorus 
  (L.). 
  Honey 
  Buzzard. 
  

  

  There 
  can 
  scarcely 
  be 
  any 
  doubt 
  that 
  an 
  irregular, 
  if 
  not 
  an 
  almost 
  

   annual, 
  migration 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  takes 
  place 
  to 
  districts 
  or 
  locali- 
  

   ties 
  within 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  drainage 
  basin 
  of 
  Moray. 
  We 
  have 
  

   already, 
  in 
  a 
  previous 
  volume 
  of 
  this 
  series, 
  noted 
  several 
  occur- 
  

   rences 
  of 
  this 
  fine 
  bird 
  upon 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  Sutherlandshire, 
  

   from 
  the 
  Ord 
  of 
  Caithness 
  southward, 
  1 
  the 
  localities 
  mentioned 
  

   being 
  Uppat 
  Woods, 
  near 
  Dunrobin, 
  in 
  July 
  1879, 
  and 
  a 
  young 
  

   bird 
  in 
  September 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  which 
  had 
  the 
  down 
  still 
  

   adhering 
  to 
  the 
  tips 
  of 
  the 
  feathers, 
  shot 
  near 
  Balnacoil. 
  

  

  Since 
  that 
  volume 
  was 
  written 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  another 
  specimen 
  

   of 
  the 
  Honey 
  Buzzard, 
  which 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Balblair, 
  Inverness- 
  

   shire, 
  on 
  October 
  14th, 
  1889. 
  It 
  was 
  curiously 
  marked, 
  and 
  

   spotted 
  on 
  the 
  back, 
  and 
  the 
  breast 
  was 
  white; 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  hand 
  

   somest 
  specimen 
  we 
  ever 
  saw. 
  Another, 
  a 
  male, 
  was 
  killed 
  in 
  

   June 
  1890 
  in 
  the 
  Black 
  Isle, 
  and 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  Macleay, 
  Inverness, 
  

   for 
  preservation. 
  

  

  In 
  East 
  Ross 
  the 
  Honey 
  Buzzard 
  has 
  bred 
  once, 
  at 
  all 
  events, 
  

   1 
  Vide 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Sutherland 
  aud-Caithue**, 
  p. 
  172. 
  

   VOL. 
  II. 
  E 
  

  

  