﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  67 
  

  

  a 
  Wood 
  Pigeon 
  instead. 
  The 
  eggs 
  were 
  quite 
  fresh, 
  only 
  the 
  

   shells 
  were 
  broken. 
  This 
  bird 
  was 
  being 
  pursued 
  by 
  Rooks 
  

   when 
  it 
  was 
  shot.' 
  Mr. 
  Brown 
  adds 
  : 
  — 
  'I 
  am 
  afraid 
  he 
  robs 
  the 
  

   nests 
  and 
  eats 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  many 
  birds.' 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  other 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  Honey 
  Buzzard 
  killed 
  in 
  summer 
  

   from 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  but 
  these, 
  we 
  think, 
  are 
  sufficient 
  

   to 
  show 
  that, 
  were 
  the 
  bird 
  unmolested, 
  it 
  would 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  

   become 
  a 
  fairly 
  common 
  breeding 
  species. 
  The 
  earliest 
  record 
  we 
  

   have 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  one 
  killed 
  at 
  Carr 
  Bridge 
  in 
  May 
  

   1855, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  likely 
  that 
  before 
  that 
  date 
  it 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  

   overlooked. 
  

  

  Falco 
  islandus, 
  Gmel 
  Iceland 
  Falcon. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  mentions 
  that 
  a 
  large 
  light-coloured 
  Falcon 
  bred 
  at 
  Inver- 
  

   garry, 
  quite 
  different 
  from 
  the 
  common 
  Peregrine, 
  and 
  adds:— 
  'This 
  

   seems 
  very 
  like 
  the 
  Iceland 
  bird, 
  which 
  is 
  a 
  rare 
  visitor. 
  I 
  have 
  

   only 
  known 
  of 
  two 
  other 
  instances 
  of 
  its 
  being 
  seen 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  kingdom. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  was 
  hunting 
  about 
  the 
  Loch 
  of 
  

   Spynie 
  early 
  in 
  March. 
  The 
  Falcon 
  was 
  shot 
  at, 
  and 
  fell, 
  but 
  

   recovered, 
  and 
  escaped 
  us. 
  The 
  other 
  I 
  saw 
  a 
  year 
  afterwards 
  

   near 
  Elgin, 
  and 
  a 
  fortnight 
  after 
  the 
  time 
  that 
  I 
  saw 
  her, 
  one 
  was 
  

   killed 
  in 
  Ross-shire 
  — 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  the 
  same.' 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  several 
  entries 
  in 
  Macleay's 
  ledgers 
  of 
  these 
  birds, 
  

   but 
  it 
  seems 
  doubtful 
  to 
  which 
  species 
  they 
  really 
  belong. 
  

  

  Falco 
  candicans, 
  Qmd. 
  Greenland 
  Falcon. 
  

  

  A 
  Greenland 
  Falcon 
  was 
  shot 
  near 
  Helmsdale 
  in 
  1882, 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  in 
  

   the 
  possession 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Hill, 
  banker 
  there. 
  Another, 
  in 
  our 
  posses- 
  

   sion, 
  was 
  shot 
  near 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Helmsdale 
  strath, 
  at 
  Griam-a- 
  

   Corry, 
  by 
  the 
  forester, 
  J. 
  Macpherson, 
  in 
  1889, 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  eating 
  a 
  

   grouse. 
  The 
  bird 
  had 
  only 
  one 
  leg. 
  

  

  In 
  Rod 
  and 
  Gun 
  of 
  November 
  28th, 
  1889, 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  that 
  

   Mr. 
  Ireland, 
  head 
  keeper 
  at 
  Skibo 
  Castle, 
  Dornoch, 
  shot 
  a 
  Falcon, 
  

   pure 
  white, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  feathers. 
  A 
  female 
  was 
  

   killed 
  at 
  Muirton, 
  near 
  Inverness, 
  about 
  September 
  24th, 
  1864, 
  

   by 
  R. 
  Ainslie, 
  Esq. 
  of 
  Elvington 
  (Edin. 
  Roy. 
  Ph>/t. 
  N<«\). 
  

  

  Gray, 
  in 
  his 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  p. 
  22, 
  mentions 
  a 
  

   specimen 
  taken 
  near 
  Elgin 
  in 
  1865, 
  and 
  which 
  passed 
  into 
  his 
  

  

  