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  BIRDS. 
  

  

  the 
  Moray 
  Firth, 
  Caithness, 
  the 
  Orkneys 
  and 
  Shetlands 
  and 
  the 
  

   Hebrides, 
  far 
  more 
  than 
  eastern 
  Scotland 
  south 
  of 
  Aberdeen. 
  

   Nevertheless, 
  we 
  find 
  that 
  almost 
  all 
  the 
  old 
  spots 
  were 
  revisited 
  : 
  

   exceptions 
  to 
  this 
  are 
  very 
  rare 
  ' 
  1 
  (loc. 
  cit., 
  vide 
  Introduction, 
  p. 
  viii). 
  

   We 
  have 
  since 
  heard 
  of 
  others 
  penetrating 
  inland 
  to 
  near 
  Kincraig, 
  

   on 
  the 
  Spey, 
  and 
  being 
  found 
  on 
  Ben 
  Binnes, 
  showing 
  how 
  even 
  

   this 
  sand-loving 
  bird 
  may 
  flight 
  along 
  the 
  great 
  open 
  pathways 
  of 
  

   migration, 
  and 
  we 
  know 
  that 
  within 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  of 
  their 
  appear- 
  

   ance 
  in 
  Aberdeen 
  and 
  Moray 
  (14th 
  and 
  15th 
  May), 
  the 
  first 
  

   farthest 
  stragglers 
  were 
  found 
  as 
  far 
  west 
  as 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Tiree 
  

   (28th). 
  The 
  Outer 
  Hebrides, 
  however, 
  and 
  Tiree 
  are 
  more 
  likely 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  peopled 
  via 
  Orkney 
  and 
  Shetland 
  and 
  the 
  Pentland 
  

   Firth, 
  though 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  to 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  great 
  trough 
  of 
  

   the 
  Caledonian 
  Canal 
  and 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Spey 
  may 
  have 
  con- 
  

   tributed 
  their 
  quota 
  to 
  these 
  far-western 
  localities. 
  

  

  Suffice 
  it 
  further 
  to 
  say 
  here, 
  there 
  were 
  hundreds 
  of 
  birds 
  — 
  if 
  

   not 
  indeed 
  thousands 
  — 
  along 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  ; 
  and 
  

   they 
  were 
  particularly 
  abundant 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  Findhorn 
  Bay, 
  

   and 
  again 
  east 
  of 
  Loch 
  Spynie 
  and 
  between 
  that 
  and 
  Speymouth 
  ; 
  

   but 
  curiously 
  — 
  and 
  in 
  support 
  of 
  statements 
  we 
  have 
  made 
  else- 
  

   where 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  the 
  Moray 
  Firth 
  migration 
  — 
  comparatively 
  

   few 
  are 
  recorded 
  from 
  localities 
  farther 
  east 
  than 
  Speymouth, 
  until 
  

   the 
  area 
  of 
  Dee 
  is 
  reached, 
  which 
  will 
  find 
  its 
  historian 
  in 
  Mr. 
  

   George 
  Sim. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  no 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  business 
  to 
  treat 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  Pallas' 
  

   Sand 
  Grouse 
  outside 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  area 
  ; 
  nor 
  in 
  any 
  

   way 
  to 
  anticipate 
  the 
  work 
  now 
  being 
  carried 
  on 
  by 
  our 
  principal 
  

   historian 
  of 
  its 
  movements 
  — 
  Professor 
  Newton 
  (as 
  announced 
  by 
  

   him 
  in 
  the 
  Ibis 
  for 
  1890, 
  page 
  207) 
  ; 
  but 
  we 
  must 
  draw 
  the 
  care- 
  

   ful 
  attention 
  of 
  our 
  readers 
  to 
  this 
  paper 
  we 
  have 
  just 
  referred 
  

   to, 
  2 
  as 
  it 
  contains 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  only 
  positive 
  record 
  known 
  to 
  

   naturalists 
  of 
  the 
  Sand 
  Grouse 
  having 
  hatched 
  its 
  young 
  in 
  Scot- 
  

   land, 
  and 
  this, 
  too, 
  within 
  our 
  present 
  area. 
  

  

  By 
  a 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  article 
  by 
  Professor 
  Newton, 
  already 
  

  

  1 
  By 
  subsequent 
  careful 
  inquiry 
  on 
  the 
  spot, 
  we 
  could 
  only 
  ascertain 
  that 
  a 
  Mr. 
  

   J 
  ohn 
  MacGillivray 
  shot 
  two 
  Sand 
  Grouse 
  at 
  Crof 
  tmore, 
  near 
  Boat 
  of 
  Garten, 
  and 
  that 
  

   both 
  were 
  spoiled 
  in 
  the 
  stuffing, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  shot 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  flock. 
  Mr. 
  L. 
  

   Dunbar 
  saw 
  one 
  of 
  these, 
  now 
  in 
  Mr. 
  MacGillivray's 
  possession, 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Watson's 
  

   (birdstuffer) 
  shop 
  in 
  Inverness, 
  which 
  was 
  ' 
  very 
  shabby 
  ' 
  about 
  the 
  head. 
  

   2 
  On 
  the 
  Young 
  of 
  Pallas' 
  Sand 
  Grouse 
  {op. 
  cit. 
  Plate 
  vii.). 
  

  

  