﻿120 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  above 
  and 
  many 
  more 
  detailed 
  statistics, 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  

   can 
  fairly 
  well 
  establish 
  certain 
  lines 
  of 
  advance 
  of 
  this 
  rapidly 
  

   extending 
  species. 
  

  

  Colonel 
  Duthie 
  observed 
  a 
  nesting-hole 
  of 
  the 
  Goosander 
  in 
  

   1892. 
  It 
  is 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  dead 
  pine, 
  and 
  the 
  hole 
  is 
  12 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  

   ground, 
  and 
  was 
  full 
  of 
  down 
  and 
  egg-shells, 
  which 
  that 
  gentleman 
  

   took. 
  This 
  was 
  pretty 
  far 
  up 
  the 
  river 
  Nethy, 
  above 
  Forest 
  

   Lodge. 
  We 
  would 
  have 
  liked 
  to 
  illustrate 
  this, 
  but 
  unfortunately 
  

   the 
  camera 
  was 
  wanting 
  (in 
  lit. 
  9th 
  May 
  1893). 
  

  

  In 
  1894 
  Colonel 
  Duthie 
  ' 
  again 
  found 
  the 
  same 
  place 
  occupied, 
  

   but 
  some 
  beast 
  had 
  destroyed 
  the 
  eggs,' 
  and 
  he 
  adds, 
  ' 
  there 
  was 
  

   another 
  nest 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity.' 
  1 
  

  

  Again 
  in 
  1895 
  Colonel 
  Duthie 
  found 
  Goosanders 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   district, 
  and 
  Hinxman 
  says 
  he 
  observed 
  them 
  nesting 
  there 
  in 
  in- 
  

   creasing 
  numbers. 
  The 
  keepers 
  wage 
  war 
  against 
  them 
  for 
  alleged 
  

   destruction 
  of 
  trout. 
  One 
  keeper 
  in 
  Rothiemurchus 
  destroyed 
  

   three 
  broods. 
  This 
  season 
  0. 
  A. 
  J. 
  Lee 
  obtained 
  photographs 
  of 
  

   nesting 
  sites. 
  

  

  Mergus 
  serrator, 
  L. 
  Red-breasted 
  Merganser. 
  

  

  Local 
  Names. 
  — 
  Saw-bill 
  and 
  Saw-neb. 
  

  

  This 
  species 
  seems 
  to 
  us 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  

   parts 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  than 
  elsewhere, 
  though 
  its 
  numbers 
  are 
  kept 
  

   down 
  by 
  incessant 
  persecution 
  in 
  the 
  inland 
  localities. 
  Mr. 
  

   Jennings 
  remarks 
  that 
  many 
  breed 
  in 
  the 
  whin-bushes 
  along 
  

   the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Dornoch 
  Firth 
  ; 
  possibly 
  they 
  are 
  less 
  subject 
  to 
  

   the 
  scant 
  mercies 
  of 
  the 
  keepers' 
  guns 
  in 
  this 
  situation. 
  St. 
  John 
  

   remarks 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  commoner 
  than 
  the 
  Goosander. 
  

  

  The 
  O.S.A. 
  is 
  silent 
  as 
  regards 
  this 
  species 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Ness. 
  

   Edward 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  Not 
  very 
  plentiful, 
  but 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  

   Banff, 
  singly 
  or 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  together 
  — 
  rarely 
  more.' 
  Called 
  

   'rare' 
  also 
  in 
  Smith's 
  lists, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  specimens 
  in 
  the 
  

   Banff 
  Museum. 
  Not 
  observed 
  by 
  us 
  on 
  Deveron 
  up 
  to 
  1S91, 
  nor 
  

   included 
  in 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  0. 
  Wilson's 
  list 
  at 
  Huntly. 
  In 
  1887 
  we 
  find 
  

   our 
  own 
  note 
  written 
  down 
  : 
  — 
  c 
  Only 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  this 
  species 
  

  

  1 
  Since 
  the 
  above 
  was 
  penned, 
  Colonel 
  Duthie 
  has 
  sent 
  us 
  a 
  rough 
  sketch 
  of 
  the 
  

   tree, 
  taken 
  in 
  1894 
  upon 
  the 
  occasion 
  of 
  his 
  second 
  visit. 
  

  

  