﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  !»9 
  

  

  South 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Glen, 
  St. 
  John, 
  in 
  his 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  

   Moray, 
  p. 
  301, 
  mentions 
  one 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  Bittern 
  having 
  occurred 
  

   at 
  the 
  loch 
  of 
  Spynie, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  footnote 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  page 
  there 
  is 
  

   mention 
  of 
  another 
  killed 
  at 
  Lochnabo, 
  but 
  in 
  neither 
  instance 
  

   is 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  capture 
  given. 
  

  

  We 
  were 
  informed 
  by 
  Macleay 
  that 
  a 
  Bittern 
  was 
  obtained 
  on 
  

   June 
  20th, 
  1884, 
  by 
  Lieutenant 
  Frazer 
  at 
  Flemington, 
  near 
  Fort 
  

   George, 
  and 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  be 
  stuffed. 
  

  

  Edward 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  Three 
  or 
  four 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  occurred. 
  One 
  

   in 
  the 
  Museum 
  was 
  killed 
  near 
  Banff 
  about 
  twenty-four 
  years 
  

   ago, 
  another 
  in 
  the 
  Moss 
  of 
  Park, 
  and 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  at 
  Balvenie 
  

   (valley 
  of 
  the 
  Fiddich).' 
  Smith 
  testifies 
  also 
  to 
  the 
  bird 
  in 
  the 
  

   Banff 
  Museum 
  being 
  the 
  one 
  'shot 
  in 
  1831, 
  near 
  Banff.' 
  Another, 
  

   shot 
  on 
  Duff 
  House 
  policies, 
  is 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  in 
  Duff 
  House 
  

   (auct. 
  Mowat, 
  keeper 
  there, 
  and 
  seen 
  by 
  us 
  in 
  May 
  1891). 
  

  

  One 
  was 
  shot 
  near 
  Turriff, 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  in 
  1891, 
  and 
  another 
  

   at 
  Loch 
  Spynie 
  ' 
  about 
  four 
  years 
  previous 
  to 
  1885 
  ' 
  (auct. 
  Captain 
  

   Dunbar-Brander), 
  and 
  this 
  is 
  doubtless 
  the 
  same 
  which 
  is 
  recorded 
  

   as 
  killed 
  there 
  in 
  February 
  1879 
  in 
  the 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray. 
  At 
  

   Loch 
  Spynie 
  Bitterns 
  are 
  seen 
  occasionally 
  — 
  Captain 
  Dunbar- 
  

   Brander 
  thinks 
  perhaps 
  once 
  in 
  every 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  years. 
  A 
  

   bird 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  George 
  Sim, 
  Aberdeen, 
  for 
  preservation, 
  from 
  

   Elgin, 
  * 
  last 
  week 
  ' 
  (George 
  Sim, 
  in 
  lit. 
  November 
  24th, 
  1888). 
  In 
  

   1891 
  one 
  was 
  shot 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Dennistoun's 
  keepers 
  on 
  19th 
  Novem- 
  

   ber, 
  as 
  it 
  rose 
  from 
  the 
  bank 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  ponds 
  near 
  Culmoney 
  

   House 
  (R. 
  Thomson, 
  Ferness, 
  in 
  lit. 
  21/v/92). 
  From 
  the 
  above 
  

   records, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  Bittern 
  is 
  far 
  from 
  uncommon 
  

   along 
  the 
  south 
  shores 
  and 
  districts 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth, 
  and 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  there 
  are 
  others 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  notes. 
  

  

  Botaurus 
  lentiginosus 
  (Mont.). 
  American 
  Bittern. 
  

  

  About 
  December 
  1888 
  a 
  male 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  was 
  obtained 
  about 
  

   two 
  miles 
  from 
  Pitgaveny, 
  and 
  Captain 
  Dunbar-Brander 
  identified 
  

   it. 
  A 
  gamekeeper 
  got 
  it 
  stuffed, 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  went 
  away 
  it 
  was 
  

   sold 
  amongst 
  his 
  effects 
  for 
  7s. 
  6d. 
  (Captain 
  Dunbar-Brander, 
  in 
  

   lit. 
  December 
  1889). 
  Later 
  on, 
  Captain 
  Dunbar-Brander 
  writes 
  

   in 
  reply 
  to 
  inquiries 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  The 
  American 
  Bittern 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Loch- 
  

   nabo, 
  by 
  the 
  under-kceper 
  there. 
  The 
  head 
  keeper 
  at 
  Innes 
  

   (Dempster) 
  got 
  the 
  bird 
  stuffed. 
  When 
  he 
  left, 
  it 
  was 
  sold 
  at 
  his 
  

   sale, 
  and 
  bought 
  by 
  the 
  Westerton 
  keeper. 
  The 
  latter 
  went 
  to 
  

  

  