﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  Caledonian 
  Canal 
  ; 
  and 
  we 
  sincerely 
  trust 
  that 
  the 
  proprietors' 
  efforts 
  

   to 
  preserve 
  them 
  in 
  their 
  last 
  strongholds 
  may 
  meet 
  with 
  success. 
  

  

  As 
  long 
  ago 
  as 
  1856, 
  we 
  find 
  notices 
  in 
  Macleay's 
  old 
  ledgers 
  

   of 
  Ospreys 
  having 
  been 
  sent 
  to 
  him 
  for 
  preservation, 
  and 
  these, 
  

   judging 
  from 
  the 
  localities 
  and 
  the 
  dates 
  given, 
  would 
  probably 
  

   have 
  been 
  birds 
  shot 
  either 
  in 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  or 
  at 
  their 
  

   breeding 
  sites, 
  — 
  very 
  often 
  the 
  two 
  combined. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  G. 
  R. 
  Lawson 
  informed 
  us 
  that 
  he 
  saw 
  an 
  inhabited 
  nest 
  in 
  

  

  Glen 
  , 
  close 
  to 
  Loch 
  , 
  on 
  June 
  30th, 
  1880. 
  In 
  his 
  letter 
  

  

  he 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  1 
  saw 
  the 
  old 
  birds, 
  and 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  occasionally 
  

   went 
  to 
  the 
  nest, 
  I 
  concluded 
  there 
  were 
  young 
  birds. 
  One 
  of 
  

   the 
  keepers 
  told 
  me 
  they 
  bred 
  there 
  every 
  year, 
  and 
  that 
  strict 
  

   orders 
  had 
  been 
  given 
  for 
  their 
  preservation. 
  This 
  nest 
  was 
  built 
  

   on 
  an 
  old 
  fir-tree 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  partially 
  uprooted 
  by 
  a 
  storm, 
  

   and 
  lay 
  out 
  at 
  an 
  angle 
  from 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  hill, 
  which 
  is 
  pretty 
  

   steep.' 
  

  

  Mr. 
  A. 
  Ross, 
  keeper 
  at 
  , 
  writes 
  to 
  the 
  effect 
  that 
  ' 
  The 
  

  

  Osprey 
  builds 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  here, 
  at 
  a 
  place 
  called 
  L 
  , 
  in 
  

  

  Glen 
  , 
  and 
  again 
  at 
  a 
  place 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  side 
  of 
  Loch 
  , 
  

  

  in 
  both 
  cases 
  in 
  a 
  fir-tree 
  ' 
  (1893). 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  places 
  men- 
  

   tioned 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Ross 
  is 
  doubtless 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  that 
  referred 
  to 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  Lawson. 
  

  

  In 
  reference 
  to 
  a 
  site 
  in 
  Ross-shire, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  occupied 
  

   for 
  at 
  least 
  thirty 
  years 
  previous 
  to 
  1893, 
  we 
  have 
  received 
  the 
  

   following 
  information 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  c 
  I 
  may 
  state 
  that 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  years 
  ago 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  the 
  

   Osprey 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  an 
  old 
  Scotch 
  fir, 
  that 
  stands 
  half-way 
  

  

  up 
  a 
  rock 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  of 
  Loch 
  , 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  which 
  

  

  tree 
  their 
  nest 
  was 
  placed. 
  The 
  eggs 
  were 
  pierced 
  and 
  empty. 
  I 
  

   concluded 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  Hoodie 
  Crow. 
  The 
  Osprey 
  laid 
  

   other 
  two 
  eggs, 
  and 
  brought 
  the 
  young 
  ones 
  up 
  ; 
  and 
  they 
  have 
  

   hatched 
  out 
  the 
  young 
  yearly 
  since. 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  seen 
  more 
  than 
  

   three 
  or 
  four 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  nest. 
  The 
  rock 
  was 
  burned, 
  but 
  it 
  did 
  

   not 
  molest 
  (sic) 
  the 
  birds, 
  as 
  the 
  tree 
  is 
  much 
  higher 
  than 
  the 
  

   undergrowth. 
  They 
  were 
  here, 
  and 
  nested 
  last 
  season' 
  (Mr. 
  

   Fraser, 
  in 
  lit. 
  3/iii/93). 
  We 
  visited 
  this 
  site 
  in 
  July 
  1894, 
  in 
  com- 
  

   pany 
  with 
  Mr. 
  E. 
  Caldwell, 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  having 
  a 
  sketch 
  

   made 
  of 
  it 
  for 
  this 
  work, 
  which, 
  however, 
  from 
  various 
  circum- 
  

   stances 
  was 
  never 
  finished. 
  

  

  