﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  75 
  

  

  taken 
  possession 
  of 
  by 
  eagles 
  about 
  five 
  years 
  ago, 
  — 
  say 
  1889 
  or 
  

   1890; 
  and 
  in 
  1891 
  an 
  Osprey 
  was 
  seen 
  collecting 
  materials 
  for 
  a 
  

   nest. 
  All 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  situate 
  within 
  our 
  present 
  area. 
  In 
  the 
  

   interests 
  of 
  the 
  birds 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  reveal 
  the 
  more 
  exact 
  details 
  

   which 
  were 
  given 
  us. 
  

  

  At 
  no 
  time 
  within 
  this 
  century 
  does 
  the 
  Osprey 
  ever 
  appear 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  abundant 
  in 
  Strathspey, 
  and 
  probably 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  

   three, 
  or 
  at 
  most 
  five, 
  sites 
  were 
  permanently 
  occupied. 
  From 
  

   all 
  the 
  evidence 
  obtainable 
  we 
  are 
  almost 
  irresistibly 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  

   conclusion 
  that 
  the 
  wide 
  valley 
  under 
  the 
  shadows 
  of 
  Cairngorm 
  

   was 
  the 
  cradle 
  of 
  the 
  race, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  sites 
  there 
  and 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  

   Eilein 
  were 
  occupied 
  later 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  pair 
  of 
  birds 
  occasionally 
  

   shifting 
  their 
  quarters. 
  

  

  Even 
  so 
  long 
  ago 
  as 
  Colonel 
  Thornton's 
  time, 
  Ospreys 
  do 
  not 
  

   appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  abundant 
  within 
  the 
  districts 
  which 
  that 
  

   gentleman 
  traversed 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  sport, 
  because 
  he 
  says 
  (Tour, 
  

   p. 
  43) 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  These 
  birds 
  are 
  very 
  rare 
  ; 
  in 
  all 
  my 
  different 
  excur- 
  

   sions 
  I 
  never 
  heard 
  of 
  any, 
  except 
  at 
  Loch 
  Lomond 
  and 
  at 
  Loch 
  

   Morlaix 
  in 
  Glenmore.' 
  We 
  know, 
  of 
  course, 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  really 
  

   so 
  rare 
  as 
  the 
  passage 
  would 
  perhaps 
  lead 
  the 
  reader 
  to 
  believe, 
  

   but 
  it 
  is 
  at 
  least 
  worthy 
  of 
  note 
  that 
  Colonel 
  Thornton 
  does 
  not 
  

   appear 
  to 
  have 
  seen 
  or 
  heard 
  of 
  them 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein. 
  

  

  In 
  1824 
  the 
  geologist 
  MacCulloch 
  wrote 
  of 
  the 
  Ospreys 
  of 
  the 
  

   Castle 
  of 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein 
  thus 
  : 
  — 
  'The 
  Eagle 
  has 
  built 
  his 
  eyrie 
  on 
  

   its 
  walls, 
  etc' 
  (Tlie 
  Highlands 
  and 
  Western 
  Isles 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  vol. 
  i. 
  

   p. 
  400). 
  

  

  The 
  Ospreys' 
  eggs 
  taken 
  by 
  Roualeyn 
  Gordon-Cumming, 
  and 
  

   sold 
  at 
  Stevens' 
  sale 
  (J. 
  C. 
  Stevens' 
  Sale 
  Catalogues, 
  No. 
  2652, 
  

   June 
  4, 
  1866) 
  were 
  taken 
  previous 
  to 
  1843, 
  and 
  again 
  after 
  1850; 
  

   between 
  these 
  two 
  dates 
  Roualeyn 
  was 
  in 
  South 
  Africa. 
  Some 
  of 
  

   these 
  eggs 
  were, 
  as 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  taken 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein. 
  

  

  Carruthers, 
  writing 
  in 
  1843, 
  in 
  his 
  Highland 
  Note-Hook, 
  p. 
  133, 
  

   speaks 
  of 
  the 
  continuous 
  occupation 
  of 
  the 
  Castle 
  by 
  'Eagles.' 
  

   He 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  She 
  ' 
  — 
  the 
  hen 
  — 
  1 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  a 
  denizen 
  of 
  the 
  

   ruined 
  tower, 
  and 
  still 
  remains.' 
  

  

  In 
  Thomas 
  Macpherson 
  Grant's 
  letter 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Gordon 
  of 
  October 
  

   1844, 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  Besides 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilean 
  in 
  Rothieniurchus, 
  there 
  

   are 
  lochs 
  in 
  Badenoch 
  where 
  it 
  regularly 
  breeds, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  in 
  

   my 
  collection 
  a 
  tine 
  male 
  from 
  Loch 
  Inch 
  on 
  the 
  Mackintosh 
  

  

  