﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  113 
  

  

  ance 
  of 
  the 
  Tufted 
  Duck 
  only 
  in 
  exceptionally 
  severe 
  winters, 
  and 
  

   even 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day 
  it 
  is 
  somewhat 
  curious 
  to 
  find 
  so 
  little 
  

   account 
  of 
  it 
  anywhere 
  in 
  our 
  Moray 
  Basin. 
  Thus 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  

   breed 
  at 
  Loch 
  Spynie, 
  though 
  that 
  sheet 
  of 
  water 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  

   admirably 
  suited 
  for 
  nesting 
  purposes. 
  Buckley 
  has 
  seen 
  it 
  in 
  

   swarms 
  upon 
  Loch 
  Aracline 
  in 
  Sutherland 
  in 
  July, 
  but 
  up 
  to 
  

   date 
  of 
  1894 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  bred 
  there, 
  though 
  we 
  know 
  it 
  to 
  breed 
  

   abundantly 
  upon 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  Caithness 
  lochs. 
  Buckley 
  has 
  

   no 
  record 
  of 
  its 
  breeding 
  from 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  north 
  of 
  

   Inverness, 
  and 
  neither 
  has 
  Harvie-Brown 
  from 
  any 
  locality 
  south 
  

   of 
  the 
  Caledonian 
  Glen 
  within 
  our 
  boundaries 
  of 
  Moray 
  ; 
  though 
  

   Mr. 
  J. 
  G. 
  Millais 
  strongly 
  suspects 
  their 
  doing 
  so 
  on 
  the 
  Loch 
  

   of 
  the 
  Clans, 
  near 
  Kilravock, 
  as 
  he 
  killed 
  several 
  young 
  birds 
  

   there, 
  only 
  recently 
  able 
  to 
  fly, 
  in 
  1891. 
  Yet 
  the 
  Tufted 
  

   Duck 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  most 
  plentiful 
  species, 
  breeding 
  on 
  certain 
  

   favourable 
  sheets 
  of 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  Forth 
  area, 
  where 
  it 
  has 
  become 
  

   abundant 
  only 
  of 
  late 
  years, 
  and 
  again 
  it 
  is 
  forcing 
  its 
  extension 
  

   to 
  some 
  places 
  in 
  the 
  west. 
  A 
  similar 
  phenomenon 
  is 
  observable 
  

   in 
  the 
  nesting 
  distribution 
  and 
  lines 
  of 
  advance 
  of 
  the 
  Stock 
  Dove, 
  

   at 
  least 
  as 
  affected 
  by 
  the 
  coast-lines 
  of 
  north-east 
  Aberdeenshire. 
  

  

  The 
  prominent 
  inference 
  appears 
  to 
  be, 
  that 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  the 
  

   advance 
  as 
  a 
  breeding 
  species 
  are 
  based 
  upon,— 
  first, 
  an 
  exjxinsion 
  1 
  

   of 
  the 
  autumn 
  north-to-south 
  original 
  flight-lines, 
  and, 
  second, 
  an 
  

   extension 
  1 
  in 
  our 
  Islands 
  along 
  the 
  return 
  spring 
  south-to-north 
  

   line. 
  Thus, 
  from 
  being 
  only 
  an 
  autumn 
  and 
  winter 
  visitor 
  from 
  

   (?) 
  Northern 
  Europe, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  said 
  expansion 
  it 
  became, 
  in 
  

   time, 
  a 
  summer 
  resident 
  and 
  breeder, 
  over 
  the 
  same 
  lines, 
  after 
  a 
  few 
  

   years' 
  experience 
  of 
  localities 
  en 
  route. 
  

  

  Fuligula 
  marila 
  (/>.). 
  Scaup. 
  

  

  A 
  common 
  winter 
  visitant 
  to 
  our 
  estuaries, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Little 
  Ferry, 
  

   Dornoch 
  Firth, 
  etc., 
  arriving 
  in 
  October 
  and 
  departing 
  in 
  March. 
  

   In 
  Macleay's 
  ledgers 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  entry 
  of 
  one 
  shot 
  at 
  Cluny, 
  

   December 
  1862. 
  St. 
  John 
  remarks 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  winter 
  visitor 
  

   less 
  common 
  than 
  formerly 
  ; 
  he 
  once 
  killed 
  one 
  in 
  good 
  plumage 
  

   near 
  the 
  Findhorn 
  in 
  .July. 
  

  

  1 
  We 
  use 
  the 
  terms 
  expansion 
  and 
  extension 
  advisedly. 
  Exjtaiuion 
  is 
  a 
  move- 
  

   ment, 
  right 
  or 
  left, 
  or 
  outside 
  older 
  channels. 
  Extension 
  is 
  a 
  movement 
  along 
  the 
  

   old 
  lines 
  of 
  travel. 
  

  

  VOL. 
  II. 
  H 
  

  

  