﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  115 
  

  

  Harelda 
  glacialis 
  (L.). 
  Long-tailed 
  Duck. 
  

  

  Found 
  in 
  winter 
  commonly 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  coast-line 
  in 
  suitable 
  places. 
  

   At 
  the 
  Little 
  Ferry 
  we 
  have 
  noticed 
  these 
  birds 
  coming 
  right 
  up 
  

   past 
  the 
  houses 
  at 
  the 
  ferry, 
  always 
  restless 
  and 
  never 
  long 
  in 
  

   one 
  place. 
  We 
  have 
  also 
  occasionally 
  seen 
  a 
  single 
  young 
  bird 
  in 
  

   the 
  streams 
  below 
  the 
  islands 
  on 
  the 
  Ness. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  says 
  they 
  are 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  bay 
  of 
  Findhorn. 
  On 
  

   the 
  sea-side 
  they 
  come 
  close 
  inshore, 
  and 
  dive 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  

   breakers. 
  

  

  1 
  Abundant,' 
  says 
  Edward, 
  'but 
  always 
  keeping 
  near 
  the 
  coast.' 
  

   Edward 
  has 
  shot 
  them 
  when 
  in 
  full 
  summer 
  plumage. 
  Rev. 
  James 
  

   Smith 
  calls 
  them 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  bay 
  at 
  Banff, 
  but 
  he 
  1 
  never 
  

   observed 
  them 
  to 
  enter 
  the 
  river, 
  even 
  for 
  the 
  most 
  limited 
  

   distance.' 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  Mr. 
  George 
  Sim 
  has 
  seen 
  this 
  bird 
  

   feeding 
  on 
  the 
  river 
  Ythan 
  (Dee) 
  at 
  a 
  considerable 
  distance 
  from 
  

   the 
  sea. 
  In 
  1890, 
  hundreds 
  assembled 
  off 
  the 
  Covesea 
  coast, 
  be- 
  

   coming 
  scarcer, 
  however, 
  to 
  the 
  westward 
  of 
  the 
  reefs, 
  which 
  

   stretch 
  out 
  near 
  Hopeman. 
  

  

  Somateria 
  mollissima 
  (L.). 
  Eider 
  Duck. 
  

  

  Brown 
  says 
  they 
  are 
  occasionally 
  common 
  at 
  Forres. 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  G. 
  

   Millais 
  saw 
  two 
  Eider 
  Ducks 
  in 
  Campbelton 
  Bay, 
  near 
  Fort 
  George, 
  

   in 
  1891. 
  St. 
  John 
  says 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  rare 
  visitant, 
  though 
  sometimes 
  

   seen 
  in 
  the 
  Firth. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  one 
  female 
  in 
  the 
  Banff 
  Museum, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  included 
  

   in 
  the 
  earlier 
  lists 
  at 
  all. 
  At 
  present 
  it 
  is 
  commoner 
  in 
  the 
  Moray 
  

   Firth 
  than 
  formerly, 
  though 
  at 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  the 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Moray 
  it 
  

   was 
  recorded 
  as 
  only 
  occasional 
  there. 
  It 
  is 
  sometimes 
  met 
  with 
  

   inside 
  Findhorn 
  bay.' 
  

  

  CEdemia 
  nigra 
  (L.). 
  Common 
  Scoter 
  

  

  The 
  Scoter 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  particularly 
  abundant 
  species 
  on 
  

   our 
  northern 
  coast-line. 
  Mr. 
  Jennings 
  writes 
  of 
  it: 
  — 
  'Common, 
  

   but 
  not 
  numerous 
  at 
  the 
  entrance 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth.' 
  One 
  was 
  

   sent 
  in 
  to 
  Macleay 
  from 
  the 
  Beauly 
  Firth 
  in 
  February 
  1861. 
  

  

  Regarding 
  the 
  breeding 
  of 
  the 
  Scoter 
  in 
  Moray, 
  ' 
  Roualeyn 
  

   Gordon 
  dimming 
  told 
  Captain 
  Klwes 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  on 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  

   occasions 
  shot 
  the 
  bird 
  off 
  its 
  nest 
  in 
  Inverness-shire, 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  

   gentleman 
  saw 
  a 
  young 
  bird, 
  half 
  mown, 
  which 
  was 
  killed 
  in 
  tin- 
  

  

  