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  BIRDS. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Hugh 
  F. 
  Rose, 
  of 
  Holme 
  Rose, 
  near 
  Nairn, 
  came 
  across 
  

   a 
  nest 
  of 
  Stock 
  Doves 
  with 
  two 
  young 
  ones, 
  which 
  he 
  took. 
  

   Mr. 
  Rose 
  wrote 
  us, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  June 
  1st, 
  1892: 
  — 
  'The 
  

   Stock 
  Dove 
  is 
  quite 
  a 
  recent 
  visitor 
  to 
  these 
  parts. 
  There 
  were 
  

   none 
  here 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  years 
  ago. 
  There 
  is 
  another 
  nest 
  on 
  

   my 
  property 
  in 
  a 
  rock 
  on 
  the 
  moor, 
  but 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  inaccessible 
  

   place.' 
  

  

  Stock 
  Doves 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  steadily, 
  even 
  rapidly, 
  on 
  the 
  

   increase 
  in 
  1893. 
  We 
  observed 
  several 
  pairs 
  at 
  Netherdale, 
  on 
  

   the 
  Deveron, 
  in 
  May. 
  But 
  around 
  Fochabers 
  we 
  failed 
  to 
  identify 
  

   any 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  August 
  1st, 
  or 
  on 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  lowest 
  reaches 
  of 
  

   Speyside. 
  But 
  Hinxman 
  found 
  them 
  breeding 
  — 
  9th 
  to 
  15th 
  April 
  

   — 
  at 
  Allt 
  a' 
  Gheallaidh, 
  a 
  burn 
  which 
  joins 
  the 
  Spey 
  just 
  above 
  

   Blacksboat. 
  There 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  good 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  

   Stock 
  Dove 
  has 
  frequented 
  these 
  parts 
  for 
  some 
  years, 
  and 
  has 
  not 
  

   always 
  been 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  Wood 
  Pigeon. 
  There 
  can, 
  

   however, 
  be 
  no 
  doubt 
  regarding 
  its 
  patent 
  increase 
  of 
  late 
  years, 
  

   in 
  by 
  far 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  area; 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  spread- 
  

   ing, 
  both 
  inland 
  from 
  its 
  earliest 
  shore 
  haunts, 
  westward 
  up 
  the 
  

   Spey, 
  and 
  also 
  eastward 
  towards 
  the 
  boundary-line 
  between 
  

   Deveron 
  and 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  c 
  Dee,' 
  seems 
  certain, 
  if 
  our 
  further 
  notes 
  

   in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1895 
  be 
  considered, 
  and 
  which 
  we 
  now 
  give: 
  — 
  

   Now, 
  we 
  have 
  said 
  we 
  saw 
  several 
  pairs 
  at 
  Netherdale 
  on 
  the 
  

   Deveron 
  in 
  May 
  1893; 
  but 
  not 
  until 
  1895 
  did 
  we 
  discover 
  a 
  nest. 
  

   One 
  pair 
  of 
  birds 
  was 
  repeatedly 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  April 
  and 
  

   early 
  in 
  May 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  year, 
  frequenting 
  a 
  steep 
  slope 
  or 
  green 
  

   hanging 
  1 
  brae 
  ' 
  at 
  the 
  1 
  Upper 
  Heron 
  ' 
  Pool, 
  upon 
  Laithers 
  

   property, 
  on 
  the 
  Lower 
  Deveron, 
  and 
  at 
  last 
  one 
  bird 
  was 
  watched 
  

   to 
  its 
  nest 
  by 
  Harvie-Brown 
  on 
  the 
  9 
  th 
  May, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  

   assistance 
  of 
  a 
  short 
  ladder 
  the 
  two 
  eggs 
  were 
  obtained. 
  The 
  hole 
  

   in 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  placed 
  was 
  not 
  less 
  than 
  14 
  inches 
  down 
  

   in 
  a 
  crevice 
  of 
  the 
  slaty 
  rock, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  side-tunnel 
  which 
  pene- 
  

   trated 
  at 
  a 
  right 
  angle 
  under 
  luxuriant 
  tufts 
  of 
  Luzula 
  sylvatica. 
  

   The 
  nest 
  was 
  simply 
  a 
  dry 
  bed 
  covered 
  with 
  dead 
  brown 
  leaves, 
  

   which 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  placed 
  there 
  by 
  the 
  birds, 
  or, 
  what 
  seemed 
  

   as 
  probable, 
  had 
  been 
  drifted 
  in 
  by 
  the 
  eddying 
  wind, 
  and 
  lodged 
  

   there. 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  now 
  in 
  our 
  collection 
  at 
  Dunipace. 
  

  

  Now, 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  assured 
  both 
  by 
  Mr. 
  George 
  Muirhead 
  and 
  

   Mr. 
  Sim, 
  no 
  Stock 
  Doves 
  have 
  as 
  yet 
  appeared 
  among 
  the 
  braes 
  of 
  

  

  