﻿116 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  upper 
  part 
  of 
  Strathglass 
  early 
  in 
  September' 
  (Dresser, 
  B. 
  of 
  

   Europe, 
  vol. 
  vi. 
  p. 
  664). 
  On 
  May 
  3rd, 
  1867, 
  three 
  of 
  these 
  birds, 
  

   two 
  drakes 
  and 
  a 
  duck, 
  were 
  shot 
  by 
  Andrew 
  M'Intosh 
  at 
  Loch 
  

   Kigh 
  Dhu, 
  in 
  the 
  Balmacaan 
  Forest, 
  and 
  given 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  Mr. 
  

   Muirhead, 
  who 
  still 
  has 
  the 
  duck 
  in 
  his 
  collection 
  (in 
  lit. 
  5/x/95). 
  

  

  In 
  answer 
  to 
  our 
  further 
  inquiries, 
  Mr. 
  James 
  Cameron, 
  head 
  

   keeper 
  at 
  Balmacaan, 
  wrote 
  us 
  on 
  September 
  4th, 
  1895, 
  that 
  some 
  

   Scoters 
  or 
  Black 
  Ducks 
  had 
  been 
  killed 
  at 
  the 
  loch 
  just 
  referred 
  to 
  

   by 
  Mr. 
  Bradley-Martin, 
  junr., 
  on 
  August 
  14th 
  of 
  that 
  year. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  says 
  they 
  frequent 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  in 
  

   considerable 
  numbers. 
  After 
  a 
  severe 
  storm 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  

   specimens 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  Scoter 
  are 
  occasionally 
  found 
  along 
  

   shore, 
  as 
  recorded 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  lists. 
  

  

  Of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  inland 
  we 
  have 
  little 
  to 
  record 
  — 
  i.e. 
  south 
  of 
  

   the 
  Caledonian 
  Canal. 
  Mr. 
  E. 
  H. 
  Read 
  relates 
  that 
  he 
  saw 
  ' 
  a 
  

   black 
  duck 
  get 
  up 
  from 
  the 
  river 
  Spey 
  between 
  Lynwilg 
  and 
  

   Aviemore,' 
  which 
  he 
  1 
  thought 
  belonged 
  to 
  this 
  species/ 
  We 
  

   notice 
  this 
  if 
  only 
  to 
  accentuate 
  the 
  rarity 
  of 
  the 
  Scoter 
  at 
  inland 
  

   localities 
  in 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  has 
  yet 
  been 
  observed. 
  

  

  CEdemia 
  fusca 
  (L.). 
  Velvet 
  Scoter. 
  

  

  At 
  one 
  time 
  Velvet 
  Scoters 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  not 
  uncommon 
  at 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  

   places 
  on 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  coast-line, 
  but 
  we 
  have 
  not 
  seen 
  

   any 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  years 
  there 
  j 
  probably 
  the 
  bank 
  on 
  which 
  

   they 
  fed 
  got 
  covered 
  up. 
  They 
  are 
  common 
  at 
  the 
  entrance 
  of 
  the 
  

   Little 
  Ferry, 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  Dornoch 
  Firth 
  Mr. 
  Jennings 
  has 
  only 
  met 
  

   with 
  a 
  single 
  example 
  — 
  a 
  male 
  — 
  which 
  he 
  killed 
  'about 
  1881.' 
  

  

  Dresser 
  remarks 
  (B. 
  of 
  Europe, 
  vol. 
  vi. 
  p. 
  658-59) 
  that 
  Roualeyn 
  

   Gordon 
  Cumming 
  showed 
  Captain 
  Elwes 
  Velvet 
  Scoters' 
  eggs 
  

   which 
  he 
  had 
  taken 
  in 
  Scotland. 
  Booth 
  also 
  told 
  Dresser 
  that, 
  

   though 
  he 
  had 
  never 
  himself 
  seen 
  this 
  species 
  nesting, 
  he 
  had 
  sent 
  

   a 
  man, 
  who 
  knew 
  the 
  birds 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  he 
  did, 
  to 
  search 
  a 
  loch, 
  and 
  

   he 
  found 
  the 
  eggs, 
  but 
  as 
  he, 
  Booth, 
  did 
  not 
  want 
  them 
  they 
  were 
  

   not 
  taken. 
  In 
  answer 
  to 
  a 
  letter 
  on 
  this 
  subject, 
  Mr. 
  Dresser 
  

   wrote 
  us 
  that 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  Booth's 
  request 
  he 
  had 
  destroyed 
  

   his 
  notes 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  locality 
  was 
  given, 
  and 
  he 
  does 
  not 
  now 
  

   remember 
  where 
  it 
  was. 
  

  

  St. 
  John 
  says 
  they 
  are 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth, 
  generally 
  

   in 
  small 
  companies. 
  

  

  