﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  105 
  

  

  specimens 
  have 
  been 
  shot 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  instances 
  throughout 
  our 
  area. 
  

   Some 
  of 
  them 
  have 
  been, 
  doubtless, 
  escapes, 
  but 
  that 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  

   for 
  supposing 
  that 
  all 
  are 
  so. 
  

  

  Five 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  appeared 
  on 
  Loch 
  Flemington 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  

   of 
  January 
  1896, 
  and 
  two 
  were 
  shot. 
  We 
  saw 
  one 
  of 
  them, 
  a 
  young 
  

   bird, 
  in 
  Macleay's 
  shop 
  ; 
  it 
  had 
  lost 
  a 
  toe 
  and 
  a 
  little 
  of 
  the 
  web 
  

   from 
  the 
  inside 
  of 
  the 
  left 
  foot. 
  

  

  BuffirCs 
  Skua. 
  — 
  Quite 
  lately 
  we 
  saw 
  the 
  skin 
  of 
  an 
  adult 
  Buffin's 
  Skua 
  

   in 
  Macleay's 
  shop, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  dying 
  state 
  close 
  

   to 
  the 
  targets 
  at 
  the 
  ' 
  Longman,' 
  where 
  the 
  volunteers 
  practice 
  

   at 
  Inverness, 
  1 
  about 
  five 
  years 
  ago 
  ' 
  (auct. 
  Simon 
  Fraser, 
  Jan. 
  

   1896). 
  

  

  Cygnus 
  bewicki, 
  Yam. 
  Bewick's 
  Swan. 
  

  

  Less 
  numerous 
  on 
  the 
  Dornoch 
  Firth 
  than 
  the 
  Wild 
  Swan 
  (Jennings). 
  

   One 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Teaninich, 
  East 
  Ross, 
  in 
  1879 
  (M. 
  L.). 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  mentions 
  them 
  as 
  occurring 
  quite 
  commcnly 
  along 
  

   with 
  the 
  Hooper, 
  but 
  says 
  there 
  are 
  rarely 
  more 
  than 
  four 
  or 
  

   five 
  together, 
  eight 
  being 
  the 
  largest 
  number 
  he 
  saw. 
  St. 
  John 
  

   specially 
  mentions 
  that 
  he 
  never 
  saw 
  a 
  grey 
  Bewick's 
  Swan 
  ; 
  all 
  

   were 
  pure 
  white. 
  An 
  immature 
  bird, 
  shot 
  by 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres, 
  

   was 
  sent 
  to 
  Harvie-Brown 
  for 
  identification, 
  and 
  he 
  presented 
  it 
  

   to 
  the 
  Elgin 
  Museum, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  housed. 
  This 
  one 
  was 
  

   shot 
  in 
  a 
  1 
  dyke,' 
  or 
  deep 
  ditch, 
  on 
  the 
  29th 
  October 
  1889. 
  

   There 
  is 
  another 
  one 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Science 
  and 
  Art, 
  Edin 
  

   burgh, 
  obtained 
  on 
  the 
  Moray 
  Basin, 
  December 
  11th, 
  1878. 
  

  

  Cygnus 
  immutabilis, 
  Yam. 
  Polish 
  Swan. 
  

  

  One 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Nairn, 
  and 
  was 
  presented 
  to 
  the 
  British 
  

   Museum 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Duncan 
  Baillie 
  of 
  Househill, 
  Nairn, 
  lO/iii/64 
  

   (No. 
  72 
  of 
  British 
  Museum 
  Catalogue). 
  See 
  also 
  Yarrell, 
  4th 
  Ed., 
  

   vol. 
  iv. 
  p. 
  343. 
  

  

  Tadorna 
  cornuta 
  (Gmel). 
  Sheldrake. 
  

  

  A 
  common 
  spring 
  and 
  summer 
  visitant, 
  breeding 
  on 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   sandy 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  coast-lino 
  : 
  some 
  few 
  remain 
  the 
  winter 
  on 
  

   the 
  Dornoch 
  Firth. 
  

  

  Sheldrakes 
  seem 
  particularly 
  numerous 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  from 
  

  

  