﻿76 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  and 
  Ballindalloch 
  estates. 
  I 
  also 
  heard 
  from 
  the 
  fox-hunter 
  

   residing 
  in 
  Abernethy 
  that 
  several 
  pairs 
  bred 
  in 
  the 
  forest 
  there, 
  

   the 
  nests 
  being 
  constructed 
  in 
  old 
  pine-trees, 
  isolated 
  by 
  the 
  pent- 
  

   up 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  artificial 
  timber-dams.' 
  Many 
  old 
  sites 
  were 
  visited 
  

   by 
  us 
  in 
  1892, 
  but 
  we 
  cannot 
  come 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  so 
  many 
  

   pairs 
  as 
  are 
  above 
  indicated 
  occupied 
  the 
  said 
  area 
  continuously. 
  

  

  From 
  L. 
  Dunbar 
  we 
  have 
  received 
  a 
  detailed 
  account 
  of 
  

   his 
  experiences 
  of 
  Ospreys 
  in 
  Strathspey. 
  After 
  carefully 
  com- 
  

   paring 
  his 
  MS., 
  which 
  was 
  written 
  out 
  for 
  us 
  from 
  memory 
  in 
  

   1892, 
  with 
  the 
  more 
  indelible 
  records 
  from 
  the 
  notes 
  and 
  egg- 
  

   books 
  of 
  Messrs. 
  Hancock, 
  St. 
  John, 
  Milner, 
  and 
  Wolley, 
  and 
  

   letters 
  from 
  and 
  to 
  these 
  gentlemen 
  — 
  some 
  from 
  Dunbar 
  him- 
  

   self 
  — 
  and 
  thereafter 
  by 
  further 
  comparison 
  with 
  a 
  former 
  MS. 
  

   of 
  Dunbar's, 
  written 
  in 
  1886, 
  also 
  from 
  memory 
  — 
  an 
  account 
  

   which 
  had 
  been 
  laid 
  aside 
  about 
  that 
  date, 
  — 
  we 
  are 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  

   a 
  very 
  fairly 
  accurate 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  Strathspey 
  Ospreys 
  between 
  

   the 
  years 
  1846 
  and 
  1852. 
  1 
  

  

  In 
  1892, 
  Dunbar 
  and 
  Harvie-Brown 
  visited 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein 
  to- 
  

   gether, 
  and 
  sat 
  down 
  on 
  the 
  very 
  spot 
  where 
  the 
  former 
  used 
  to 
  

   land 
  after 
  swimming 
  out 
  to 
  the 
  old 
  castle 
  for 
  the 
  Ospreys' 
  eggs, 
  

   which 
  expeditions 
  took 
  place 
  between 
  the 
  years 
  1848 
  and 
  1852. 
  

  

  Dunbar 
  remarked 
  to 
  Harvie-Brown 
  that 
  once 
  during 
  that 
  

   period 
  the 
  birds 
  deserted 
  the 
  loch, 
  because 
  in 
  that 
  year 
  the 
  

   timber 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  cut 
  along 
  its 
  shores 
  was 
  being 
  floated 
  

   through 
  the 
  loch 
  and 
  down 
  the 
  river. 
  Little 
  of 
  the 
  older 
  timber 
  

   exists 
  there 
  now, 
  but 
  the 
  parts 
  nearest 
  to 
  the 
  loch 
  have 
  been 
  

   replanted. 
  That 
  year 
  the 
  birds 
  deserted 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein; 
  they 
  

   built 
  at 
  Loch 
  Morlich, 
  and 
  Dunbar 
  took 
  their 
  eggs 
  there. 
  One 
  

   year 
  both 
  these 
  sites 
  were 
  occupied 
  by 
  Ospreys, 
  and 
  he 
  again 
  took 
  

   the 
  first 
  layings 
  from 
  both 
  the 
  nests. 
  

  

  After 
  most 
  careful 
  consideration 
  and 
  all 
  inquiries 
  of 
  every 
  one 
  

   we 
  could 
  consult, 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar 
  and 
  Harvie-Brown 
  could 
  not 
  

   make 
  out 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  ever 
  more 
  than 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  pairs 
  of 
  

   Ospreys 
  in 
  Strathspey 
  even 
  in 
  their 
  palmiest 
  days 
  — 
  sixty, 
  eighty, 
  

   or 
  a 
  hundred 
  years 
  ago, 
  — 
  though 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  more 
  old 
  nesting 
  

   sites. 
  

  

  1 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar 
  informed 
  us 
  that 
  — 
  'Any 
  notes 
  I 
  had 
  on 
  ornithology 
  were 
  all 
  lost 
  

   in 
  the 
  great 
  fire 
  of 
  Sandridge, 
  Port 
  Phillip 
  Bay, 
  in 
  1855, 
  where 
  my 
  wife 
  and 
  I 
  lost 
  

   everything 
  belonging 
  to 
  us 
  : 
  we 
  had 
  nothing 
  left 
  except 
  what 
  we 
  stood 
  in. 
  ' 
  

  

  