﻿BIRDS. 
  125 
  

  

  done 
  on 
  his 
  father's 
  estate 
  from 
  1876 
  and 
  1879. 
  In 
  these 
  four 
  

   years 
  15,194 
  eggs, 
  1603 
  young 
  birds, 
  and 
  3733 
  old 
  birds 
  were 
  

   destroyed, 
  making 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  20,529. 
  The 
  head 
  tax 
  was 
  

   £117, 
  13s. 
  3d.' 
  1 
  

  

  A 
  pure 
  white 
  Ring 
  Dove 
  was 
  shot 
  on 
  11th 
  February 
  1895 
  

   upon 
  the 
  estate 
  of 
  Dalvey, 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  Major 
  Macleod, 
  and 
  is 
  

   now 
  in 
  Dalvey 
  House 
  (Brown 
  of 
  Forres, 
  in 
  lit. 
  14/v/95). 
  2 
  

  

  Columba 
  oenas, 
  L. 
  Stock 
  Dove. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  the 
  Stock 
  Dove 
  was 
  not 
  known 
  in 
  Suther- 
  

   landshire 
  until 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1887, 
  when 
  on 
  September 
  22nd 
  

   Buckley 
  shot 
  one 
  among 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  Wood-pigeons 
  at 
  Kintrad- 
  

   well, 
  near 
  Brora. 
  In 
  1889 
  the 
  first 
  nest 
  was 
  taken 
  there, 
  and 
  since 
  

   then 
  the 
  bird 
  has 
  increased 
  greatly, 
  so 
  much 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  quite 
  

   a 
  common 
  species. 
  We 
  saw 
  quite 
  a 
  large 
  flock 
  near 
  the 
  Little 
  

   Ferry 
  in 
  August 
  1892. 
  

  

  In 
  1887 
  we 
  saw 
  a 
  Stock 
  Dove 
  fly 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  tree 
  in 
  the 
  Balnagovvn 
  

   wood, 
  evidently 
  nesting 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  birds 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  

   nest 
  in 
  rabbit-burrows 
  or 
  rocks, 
  the 
  larger 
  wooded 
  areas 
  being 
  in 
  

   most 
  cases 
  of 
  too 
  recent 
  growth 
  ; 
  besides, 
  there 
  is 
  an 
  insufficiency 
  

   of 
  hardwoods, 
  which 
  alone 
  give 
  the 
  holes 
  these 
  birds 
  prefer 
  for 
  

   nesting. 
  About 
  Beauly 
  they 
  nest 
  in 
  rabbit-burrows, 
  but 
  are 
  not 
  

   very 
  common. 
  Booth 
  in 
  his 
  Hough 
  Notes 
  (1881-87) 
  says: 
  — 
  'In 
  

   the 
  beautifully 
  wooded 
  glen 
  through 
  which 
  the 
  Beauly 
  runs, 
  near 
  

   Eileen 
  Aigas, 
  and 
  again 
  in 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Druim, 
  I 
  recognised 
  

   several 
  pairs.' 
  

  

  In 
  May 
  1892 
  we 
  heard 
  Stock 
  Doves 
  cooing 
  at 
  Guisachan. 
  

   This 
  appears 
  like 
  an 
  extension 
  of 
  range 
  up 
  the 
  Beauly 
  river. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  paper 
  read 
  before 
  the 
  Royal 
  Phys. 
  Soc, 
  Edinburgh, 
  on 
  

   the 
  21st 
  February 
  1883, 
  Harvie-Brown 
  treated 
  at 
  some 
  length 
  of 
  

   the 
  extension 
  of 
  range 
  of 
  the 
  Stock 
  Dove 
  throughout 
  Scotland 
  ; 
  

   and 
  took 
  occasion 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  the 
  natural 
  laws 
  which 
  regulate 
  

   these 
  waves 
  — 
  so 
  to 
  speak 
  — 
  of 
  distribution 
  of 
  this 
  and 
  many 
  other 
  

   species 
  (loc. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  242). 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  interesting 
  to 
  find 
  that 
  while 
  tho 
  Stock 
  Dove 
  rapidly 
  

  

  1 
  Ornithology 
  and 
  Ayrindture, 
  edited 
  by 
  John 
  Watson, 
  1S93, 
  Svo, 
  p. 
  9.">. 
  

  

  * 
  On 
  October 
  27, 
  1894, 
  a 
  young 
  puro 
  white 
  Ring 
  Dove 
  wae 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  di&ablcd 
  

   condition, 
  by 
  a 
  shooting 
  party, 
  in 
  a 
  thick 
  cover, 
  in 
  Stirlingshire, 
  of 
  which 
  party 
  

   Harvie-Brown 
  was 
  one. 
  

  

  