﻿78 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  three 
  eggs, 
  which 
  I 
  put 
  in 
  my 
  bonnet, 
  and 
  placed 
  the 
  latter 
  on 
  my 
  

   head, 
  and 
  took 
  to 
  the 
  water 
  again 
  ; 
  and 
  on 
  reaching 
  the 
  shore 
  a 
  

   woman 
  at 
  the 
  gamekeeper's 
  house 
  saw 
  me 
  and 
  quickly 
  fled 
  inside. 
  1 
  

   I 
  dressed, 
  and 
  made 
  off 
  for 
  Glenmore 
  Forest, 
  and 
  found 
  there 
  a 
  

   very 
  large 
  nest 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  fir-tree. 
  I 
  then 
  went 
  to 
  the 
  keeper's 
  

   house, 
  and 
  he 
  informed 
  me 
  it 
  was 
  an 
  old 
  Goshawk's 
  nest.' 
  

   So 
  much 
  for 
  Dunbar's 
  relation, 
  really 
  applying 
  to 
  1848, 
  

   These 
  eggs 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  St. 
  John, 
  who 
  was, 
  during 
  that 
  year, 
  

   in 
  Sutherland. 
  This 
  same 
  year 
  also 
  L. 
  Dunbar 
  took 
  eggs 
  from 
  

   the 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  old 
  ruined 
  lodge 
  at 
  Loch 
  Morlich 
  2 
  (Ootheca 
  

   Wolleyana, 
  §§ 
  83, 
  85), 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  in 
  this 
  year 
  that 
  old 
  Sir 
  John 
  

   Peter 
  Grant, 
  grandfather 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  laird, 
  died. 
  

  

  In 
  1849 
  Dunbar 
  took 
  eggs 
  on 
  24th 
  May 
  which 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  

   Mr. 
  John 
  Hancock 
  (vide 
  Howes' 
  memoranda 
  from 
  the 
  Newcastle 
  

   Museum), 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  year 
  he 
  took 
  the 
  eggs 
  at 
  Loch 
  Morlich 
  from 
  

   a 
  nest 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  Scots 
  fir-tree 
  (Ootheca 
  Wolleyana,$ 
  85). 
  In 
  1850 
  

   (Dunbar's 
  1886 
  MS. 
  says) 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  Still 
  stuffing 
  for 
  Mr. 
  Snowie 
  and 
  

   collecting 
  in 
  summer-time 
  — 
  taking 
  eggs 
  in 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilean'; 
  and 
  in 
  

   his 
  1892 
  MS. 
  he 
  says: 
  — 
  'In 
  that 
  year 
  Mr. 
  Hancock 
  met 
  me, 
  and 
  

   we 
  started 
  on 
  a 
  nesting 
  tour 
  through 
  Abernethy, 
  and 
  landed 
  at 
  

   Eebhoan 
  (Revoan), 
  the 
  nearest 
  house 
  to 
  Cairngorm, 
  which 
  we 
  made 
  

   our 
  base 
  of 
  operations. 
  We 
  visited 
  an 
  old 
  dam 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  

   river 
  Nethy 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  collect 
  water 
  as 
  a 
  reserve 
  for 
  

   the 
  summer 
  season, 
  to 
  float 
  down 
  timber 
  to 
  the 
  saw-mills 
  which 
  

   had 
  been 
  erected 
  on 
  the 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  river. 
  On 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  this 
  

   dam 
  we 
  found 
  two 
  old 
  Ospreys' 
  nests 
  on 
  two 
  very 
  stunted 
  and 
  

   blasted 
  fir-trees, 
  the 
  branches 
  all 
  growing 
  to 
  one 
  side 
  by 
  the 
  force 
  

   of 
  the 
  wind 
  blowing 
  down 
  the 
  glen, 
  and 
  the 
  nests 
  placed 
  right 
  on 
  

   the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  bunch 
  of 
  branches. 
  Mr. 
  Hancock 
  took 
  a 
  sketch 
  of 
  

  

  1 
  The 
  same 
  thing 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  happened 
  to 
  Roualeyn 
  Gordon-Cumming 
  on 
  a 
  

   like 
  occasion. 
  

  

  2 
  By 
  notes 
  in 
  the 
  late 
  John 
  Wolley's 
  ms., 
  and 
  communicated 
  by 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  

   to 
  us, 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  Wolley 
  first 
  knew 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1848, 
  and 
  

   that 
  introduction 
  was 
  made 
  through 
  his 
  brother, 
  William 
  Dunbar, 
  Wolley 
  having 
  

   first 
  heard 
  of 
  him 
  from 
  the 
  Milners, 
  who 
  were 
  in 
  Sutherland. 
  On 
  the 
  3rd 
  May 
  1851 
  

   Wolley 
  received 
  two 
  eggs 
  from 
  L. 
  Dunbar 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  taken 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein 
  

   on 
  29th 
  April. 
  Also, 
  Wolley 
  had 
  three 
  eggs 
  from 
  L. 
  Dunbar 
  in 
  1852, 
  taken 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  place 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  1851 
  he 
  had 
  an 
  egg 
  from 
  a 
  nest 
  on 
  Loch 
  Morlich, 
  which 
  nest 
  was 
  

   harried 
  three 
  summers 
  by 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar, 
  who 
  is 
  the 
  1 
  correspondent 
  ' 
  mentioned 
  in 
  

   Ootheca 
  Wolleyana, 
  §§ 
  83, 
  84. 
  

  

  