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  BIRDS. 
  

  

  through 
  the 
  suitable 
  haunts 
  afforded 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  loch-besprinkled 
  

   pine 
  forests 
  and 
  old 
  alder 
  and 
  birch-clad 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  itself. 
  

  

  One 
  was 
  obtained 
  at 
  Aviemore 
  in 
  May 
  1878 
  (Macleay's 
  ledgers), 
  

   and 
  a 
  pair 
  was 
  found 
  nesting 
  on 
  an 
  island 
  in 
  the 
  Spey 
  at 
  Cromdale, 
  

   thirty 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  sea, 
  in 
  June 
  1895, 
  by 
  Lionel 
  Hinxman. 
  

  

  Mergus 
  albellus, 
  L. 
  Smew. 
  

  

  A 
  very 
  rare 
  winter 
  visitant 
  to 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  area. 
  St. 
  John 
  

   mentions 
  it, 
  and 
  adds 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  rare, 
  especially 
  the 
  old 
  males. 
  

   One 
  was 
  shot 
  in 
  the 
  Beauly 
  Firth 
  in 
  March 
  1858, 
  and 
  was 
  stuffed 
  

   by 
  Macleay. 
  

  

  An 
  adult 
  male 
  was 
  shot 
  on 
  the 
  river 
  Nairn 
  by 
  the 
  father 
  of 
  

   the 
  present 
  proprietor 
  of 
  Holme 
  Eose. 
  We 
  saw 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  house 
  at 
  

   Holme 
  Eose 
  in 
  1892. 
  Another 
  was 
  shot 
  on 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  a 
  

   year 
  or 
  two 
  ago 
  (auct. 
  Major 
  Chadwick 
  in 
  list 
  1885). 
  

  

  A 
  male 
  and 
  female 
  are 
  recorded 
  by 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  A. 
  Smith 
  as 
  having 
  

   been 
  killed 
  near 
  Mount 
  Blairey 
  on 
  the 
  Deveron 
  in 
  February 
  and 
  

   March 
  1853 
  (Proc. 
  Royal 
  Phys. 
  Soc. 
  Edin., 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  18). 
  

  

  [Mergus 
  cucullatus, 
  L. 
  Hooded 
  Merganser. 
  

  

  Hypothetical 
  occurrence 
  recorded 
  by 
  Edward.] 
  

  

  Order 
  COLUMB^E. 
  

   Family 
  COLUMBnXffi. 
  

  

  Columba 
  palumbus, 
  L. 
  Ring 
  Dove. 
  

  

  Local 
  Name. 
  — 
  Cushie 
  or 
  Cushie 
  Doo. 
  

  

  A 
  common 
  species, 
  and 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  abundant. 
  In 
  the 
  summer 
  

   the 
  Wood-pigeons 
  spread 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  country, 
  going 
  up 
  into 
  every 
  

   strath 
  and 
  glen 
  to 
  breed, 
  returning 
  to 
  the 
  lower 
  cultivated 
  grounds 
  

   in 
  the 
  winter, 
  and 
  collecting 
  in 
  places 
  in 
  large 
  flocks, 
  as 
  at 
  Beauly. 
  

  

  Writing 
  in 
  1847, 
  Hepburn 
  remarked 
  that 
  this 
  species 
  was 
  very 
  

   common 
  in 
  the 
  wilds 
  of 
  Inverness-shire, 
  but 
  was 
  at 
  that 
  date 
  

   a 
  comparatively 
  recent 
  colonist. 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  Craig 
  mentions 
  that 
  the 
  

   severe 
  winter 
  of 
  1880-81 
  reduced 
  their 
  numbers 
  considerably 
  in 
  

   the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  Glen 
  Urquhart. 
  

  

  