﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  121 
  

  

  was 
  scarcely 
  known, 
  and 
  then 
  only 
  as 
  a 
  comparatively 
  rare 
  

   winter 
  visitant 
  along 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth. 
  Now 
  

   it 
  literally 
  swarms 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  Findhorn, 
  nesting 
  

   in 
  thick 
  gorse 
  coverts 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  river-side. 
  To-day 
  — 
  8th 
  July 
  

   1887 
  — 
  we 
  saw 
  an 
  immense 
  flight, 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  hundred 
  birds, 
  

   flying 
  with 
  arrowy 
  speed 
  in 
  a 
  long, 
  drawn-out 
  line, 
  just 
  outside 
  

   the 
  salmon-nets 
  off 
  the 
  Culbins 
  — 
  a 
  sight 
  only 
  comparatively 
  

   common 
  of 
  late 
  years. 
  

  

  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  adds 
  the 
  following 
  : 
  — 
  1 
  Four 
  years 
  ago 
  (or 
  

   about 
  1887 
  or 
  1886) 
  the 
  first 
  nest 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  gorse, 
  not 
  a 
  

   stone-throw 
  from 
  the 
  iron 
  suspension 
  bridge 
  over 
  the 
  Findhorn. 
  

   Now 
  there 
  would 
  be 
  no 
  difficulty 
  in 
  finding 
  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  nests 
  

   before 
  breakfast.' 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  river 
  Avon 
  a 
  few 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  by 
  Hinxman 
  in 
  

   autumn. 
  

  

  All 
  old 
  records 
  agree 
  in 
  the 
  matter 
  of 
  its 
  former 
  rarity, 
  and 
  Dr. 
  

   Gordon 
  considered 
  it 
  rare 
  when 
  he 
  wrote 
  his 
  Fauna. 
  In 
  1892, 
  

   scarcely 
  a 
  doubt 
  remains 
  that 
  they 
  bred 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time, 
  to 
  the 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Brown 
  — 
  long 
  keeper 
  on 
  Rothiemay 
  

   estates, 
  — 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  Deveron, 
  below 
  Rothiemay 
  

   village 
  (aud. 
  Charles 
  H. 
  Alston 
  and 
  Mr. 
  Brown, 
  keeper), 
  and 
  in 
  

   1893 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Brown 
  again 
  observed 
  the 
  old 
  birds, 
  but 
  not 
  

   the 
  young. 
  Mr. 
  Charles 
  Alston 
  also 
  records 
  a 
  female 
  and 
  brood 
  

   appearing 
  on 
  Lochan 
  Ovie 
  in 
  Upper 
  Badenoch 
  in 
  July, 
  and 
  five 
  

   mature 
  birds 
  in 
  August 
  1890. 
  

  

  By 
  1894 
  Red-breasted 
  Mergansers, 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  time 
  known, 
  bred 
  

   on 
  the 
  east 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Findhorn 
  on 
  Mr. 
  M'Kessacks 
  ground, 
  

   where 
  a 
  nest 
  with 
  ten 
  eggs 
  was 
  found 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  sons, 
  one 
  of 
  

   which 
  Mr. 
  M'Kessack 
  kindly 
  gave 
  Harvie-Brown 
  for 
  his 
  collec- 
  

   tion. 
  The 
  tendency 
  of 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  extension 
  certainly 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  

   of 
  this 
  species 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  from 
  west 
  to 
  east, 
  arising, 
  with 
  little 
  

   doubt, 
  from 
  congestion 
  and 
  rapid 
  increase 
  in 
  our 
  western 
  faunal 
  

   areas, 
  where, 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  barren 
  Outer 
  Hebrides, 
  they 
  have 
  long 
  

   been 
  known 
  to 
  nest 
  abundantly. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  

   the 
  extension 
  of 
  the 
  allied 
  species, 
  the 
  Goosander, 
  are 
  not 
  so 
  

   distinctly 
  traceable 
  if 
  we 
  start 
  from 
  the 
  earlier 
  records 
  at 
  Loch 
  

   Errochd 
  and 
  Loch 
  Awe, 
  and 
  then 
  take 
  into 
  consideration 
  the 
  later 
  

   discoveries 
  northward 
  through 
  the 
  Western 
  Highlands 
  — 
  leaving 
  

   out 
  the 
  Outer 
  Hebrides, 
  — 
  and 
  again 
  eastward 
  down 
  the 
  Spey 
  valley, 
  

  

  