﻿84 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  Dunbar's 
  leaving 
  for 
  Australia, 
  all 
  connection 
  might 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  cut 
  off' 
  (Professor 
  Newton, 
  in 
  lit. 
  24/iii/1890). 
  

  

  In 
  1867, 
  however, 
  Gray, 
  upon 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  J. 
  Elwes, 
  

   states 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  'at 
  least 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  breeding 
  stations 
  in 
  

   Koss-shire, 
  and 
  that 
  these 
  are 
  strictly 
  protected 
  ' 
  (Birds 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  

   of 
  Scotland, 
  p. 
  18). 
  

  

  In 
  1869, 
  we 
  are 
  informed 
  by 
  Gray 
  (op. 
  cit, 
  p. 
  18), 
  that 
  eggs 
  

   of 
  the 
  Osprey 
  were 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  of 
  that 
  year, 
  

   'but,' 
  he 
  continues, 
  'the 
  birds 
  laid 
  a 
  second 
  time, 
  and 
  were 
  

   allowed 
  to 
  hatch 
  their 
  young 
  in 
  safety.' 
  This 
  is 
  given 
  upon 
  

   'Mr. 
  Brown's' 
  authority 
  in 
  the 
  text, 
  by 
  whom 
  we 
  believe 
  it 
  

   is 
  Harvie-Brown 
  who 
  is 
  meant, 
  but 
  a 
  determined 
  search 
  among 
  

   our 
  papers 
  has 
  hitherto 
  failed 
  to 
  elicit 
  further 
  details 
  of 
  the 
  facts 
  

   so 
  stated, 
  though 
  such 
  may 
  appear 
  amongst 
  correspondence 
  left 
  

   by 
  Gray, 
  to 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  not 
  access. 
  

  

  In 
  1872 
  our 
  friend, 
  Mr. 
  Thomas 
  H. 
  Maclachlan, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  

   13th 
  September, 
  in 
  lit. 
  describes 
  the 
  nest 
  and 
  annual 
  resort 
  

   of 
  Ospreys 
  on 
  a 
  small 
  loch 
  in 
  Inverness-shire 
  visited 
  by 
  him 
  a 
  few 
  

   days 
  previously. 
  1 
  

  

  The 
  Scotsman 
  of 
  June 
  9th, 
  1879, 
  contains 
  a 
  long 
  article 
  upon 
  

   the 
  Ospreys 
  of 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein, 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  mentions 
  that 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  birds 
  was 
  shot 
  in 
  1872, 
  the 
  birds 
  having 
  occupied 
  the 
  

   site 
  undisturbed 
  certainly 
  previous 
  to 
  that 
  date, 
  and 
  thereafter 
  

   it 
  remained 
  tenantless 
  till 
  'this 
  spring' 
  — 
  i.e. 
  1879. 
  The 
  writer 
  

   of 
  the 
  article 
  then 
  relates 
  that 
  he 
  visited 
  the 
  loch 
  'recently' 
  

   with 
  a 
  friend, 
  and 
  saw 
  the 
  female 
  bird 
  rise, 
  with 
  a 
  scream, 
  off 
  

   its 
  nest, 
  and 
  then 
  graphically 
  describes 
  its 
  aerial 
  motions 
  and 
  

   gyrations. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  Good 
  Words 
  for 
  April 
  and 
  September 
  

   1880, 
  there 
  are 
  articles 
  by 
  William 
  Jolly, 
  Esq., 
  Her 
  Majesty's 
  

   Inspector 
  of 
  Schools, 
  on 
  the 
  breeding 
  of 
  the 
  Ospreys 
  at 
  Loch 
  

   an 
  Eilein, 
  where 
  — 
  he 
  tells 
  us 
  — 
  ' 
  at 
  that 
  date 
  they 
  were 
  strictly 
  

   preserved.' 
  Mr. 
  Jolly 
  also 
  refers 
  to 
  another 
  breeding-place 
  near 
  

   the 
  same 
  locality, 
  but 
  this 
  being 
  less 
  known, 
  and 
  less 
  safe, 
  

   according 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Jolly's 
  opinion, 
  he 
  so 
  far 
  wisely 
  repressed 
  the 
  

   name. 
  But 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  truly 
  remarked 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  It 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  

   Mr. 
  Jolly 
  described 
  it 
  (Loch 
  an 
  Eilein) 
  and 
  the 
  Ospreys 
  in 
  Good 
  

  

  1 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  he 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  ascertained 
  that 
  the 
  Ospreys 
  'seem 
  to 
  be 
  

   undisturbed, 
  and 
  breed 
  there 
  every 
  spring' 
  (?). 
  

  

  