﻿128 
  BIRDS. 
  

  

  St. 
  Fergus 
  Links. 
  And 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  worthy 
  of 
  remark, 
  possibly, 
  that 
  

   neither 
  Sim 
  nor 
  ourselves 
  have 
  succeeded 
  in 
  obtaining 
  a 
  single 
  

   positive 
  record 
  from 
  either 
  Forfar 
  or 
  Kincardine 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  

   river 
  Dee. 
  

  

  Within 
  the 
  Moray 
  Basin 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  — 
  1892 
  — 
  Stock 
  

   Doves 
  literally 
  swarm 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  sandhills, 
  rabbit-wastes, 
  

   heathery 
  and 
  gorse-covered 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  Plain 
  of 
  Moray, 
  over 
  

   the 
  Culbin 
  Sands, 
  penetrating 
  up 
  the 
  Findhorn 
  and 
  Nairn, 
  and 
  

   populating 
  the 
  hardwoods 
  around 
  these 
  rivers 
  in 
  their 
  lower 
  

   straths, 
  dispersing 
  apparently 
  westward 
  along 
  the 
  plain, 
  and 
  

   radiating 
  afterwards 
  up 
  the 
  side 
  valleys, 
  being 
  found 
  also 
  far 
  up 
  

   the 
  Avon, 
  though 
  not 
  as 
  yet 
  in 
  large 
  numbers, 
  and 
  among 
  the 
  

   hills 
  and 
  scaurs 
  of 
  the 
  Carn 
  districts. 
  When 
  searching 
  for 
  Sand 
  

   Grouse 
  on 
  Mr. 
  Mackessack's 
  ground 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Findhorn, 
  many 
  

   were 
  disturbed 
  by 
  us 
  among 
  the 
  gorse-covered 
  rabbit-grounds 
  ; 
  

   others 
  were 
  seen 
  east 
  of 
  Loch 
  Spynie 
  flying 
  past 
  or 
  coming 
  to 
  

   drink 
  at 
  the 
  marshy 
  pools 
  between 
  Loch 
  Spynie 
  and 
  Lossiemouth. 
  

   Their 
  extension 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  rapid, 
  and 
  their 
  increase 
  in 
  numbers 
  so 
  

   unprecedented 
  — 
  almost 
  sudden 
  — 
  in 
  Moray, 
  as 
  almost 
  to 
  defy 
  detail 
  

   in 
  an 
  exhaustive 
  sense, 
  and 
  indeed 
  it 
  seems 
  almost 
  unnecessary 
  to 
  

   attempt 
  to 
  arrange 
  such 
  numerous 
  statistics. 
  Ultimately, 
  if 
  the 
  

   Stock 
  Dove 
  continues 
  to 
  increase 
  and 
  spread 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  doing, 
  it 
  

   may 
  rapidly 
  become 
  a 
  daily 
  feature 
  in 
  the 
  Moray 
  landscape, 
  just 
  

   as 
  Wood-pigeons 
  are 
  now. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  spoken 
  thus 
  of 
  the 
  amazing 
  increase 
  in 
  late 
  years 
  

   within 
  Moray. 
  Now 
  in 
  St. 
  John's 
  time, 
  that 
  able 
  and 
  thoroughly 
  

   observant 
  naturalist 
  passes 
  over 
  its 
  name 
  in 
  silence, 
  and 
  so 
  also 
  do 
  

   all 
  other 
  writers 
  whom 
  we 
  have 
  before 
  quoted, 
  until 
  we 
  reach 
  the 
  

   date 
  of 
  about 
  1883. 
  In 
  that 
  year 
  Captain 
  Dunbar-Brander 
  first 
  

   informed 
  us 
  of 
  their 
  breeding 
  among 
  sandy 
  hillocks 
  near 
  

   Pitgaveny. 
  By 
  1885, 
  Jock 
  Phin 
  — 
  Captain 
  Dunbar-Brander's 
  

   gamekeeper, 
  — 
  who 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  man 
  to 
  discover 
  them, 
  informed 
  

   us 
  that 
  some 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  pairs 
  then 
  occupied 
  the 
  above-noted 
  

   sites. 
  

  

  In 
  1887 
  Harvie-Brown, 
  as 
  already 
  stated, 
  saw 
  a 
  number 
  on 
  Mr. 
  

   Mackessack's 
  ground 
  flying 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  rabbit 
  burrows, 
  but 
  Mr. 
  

   Mackessack 
  said 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  now 
  so 
  numerous 
  there 
  as 
  

   about 
  five 
  years 
  previously. 
  We 
  look 
  upon 
  such 
  observations 
  

   as 
  interesting 
  from 
  a 
  resident 
  gentleman 
  like 
  Mr. 
  Mackessack, 
  

  

  