﻿140 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  'My 
  egg 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  bit 
  like 
  the 
  egg 
  described 
  in 
  the 
  Field 
  as 
  

   having 
  been 
  laid 
  in 
  the 
  Zoo, 
  but 
  I 
  would 
  think 
  nothing 
  of 
  that, 
  

   knowing 
  how 
  eggs 
  are 
  influenced 
  both 
  in 
  size 
  and 
  colour 
  by 
  the 
  

   food. 
  The 
  food 
  in 
  the 
  Zoo 
  would 
  be 
  purely 
  artificial. 
  I 
  see 
  

   thousands 
  of 
  eggs 
  yearly 
  here 
  in 
  the 
  gullery. 
  The 
  first 
  eggs, 
  laid 
  

   in 
  April, 
  are 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  worms 
  ; 
  the 
  gulls 
  have 
  been 
  following 
  

   the 
  ploughs. 
  The 
  ploughs 
  stop 
  in 
  May, 
  the 
  gull's 
  food 
  is 
  then 
  

   chiefly 
  insects, 
  and 
  eggs 
  laid 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  birds 
  in 
  April 
  and 
  in 
  

   May 
  are 
  quite 
  distinct 
  in 
  colour 
  and 
  thickness 
  of 
  shell 
  ; 
  the 
  shell, 
  

   more 
  especially, 
  is 
  far 
  thinner 
  in 
  the 
  late-laid 
  eggs.' 
  

  

  We 
  think 
  there 
  is 
  every 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  Captain 
  Dunbar- 
  

   Brander's 
  eggs 
  are 
  genuine. 
  If 
  one 
  pair 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  host 
  of 
  Sand 
  

   Grouse 
  laid 
  their 
  eggs 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  likely 
  spot 
  on 
  the 
  Moray 
  sandy 
  

   links, 
  why 
  not 
  more 
  ? 
  

  

  Order 
  GALLINiE. 
  

   Family 
  TETRAONIDJE. 
  

  

  Tetrao 
  urogallus, 
  L. 
  Capercaillie. 
  

  

  In 
  Sutherland 
  attempts 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  1870 
  to 
  re-introduce 
  the 
  

   Capercaillie 
  into 
  the 
  county 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Chirnside 
  at 
  Skibo 
  

   and 
  at 
  Ospisdale. 
  One 
  bird 
  survived 
  at 
  Skibo 
  for 
  two 
  years, 
  but 
  

   finally 
  disappeared, 
  and 
  no 
  further 
  attempt 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   made. 
  1 
  

  

  Of 
  earlier 
  accounts 
  we 
  have 
  quoted 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  authorities 
  

   in 
  a 
  previous 
  volume 
  — 
  The 
  Capercaillie 
  in 
  Scotland. 
  To 
  these 
  we 
  

   may 
  add 
  Hector 
  Boece's 
  account: 
  — 
  'Mony 
  uthir 
  fowlis 
  ar 
  in 
  

   Scotland, 
  quhilkis 
  ar 
  sene 
  in 
  na 
  uthir 
  partis 
  of 
  the 
  warld: 
  as 
  

   capercailye, 
  ane 
  foul 
  mair 
  than 
  ane 
  ravin, 
  quhilk 
  leiffis 
  allanerlie 
  

   of 
  barkis 
  of 
  treis' 
  (vide 
  Scotland 
  before 
  1700, 
  p. 
  84). 
  We 
  may 
  

   also 
  quote 
  Bishop 
  Leslie, 
  who, 
  writing 
  in 
  1578, 
  tells 
  us: 
  — 
  'In 
  

   Rosse 
  and 
  Loquhaber, 
  and 
  vtheris 
  places 
  amang 
  hilis 
  and 
  knowis, 
  

   ar 
  nocht 
  in 
  missing 
  fir 
  trie 
  sufficient, 
  quhair 
  oft 
  sittis 
  a 
  certane 
  

   foul 
  and 
  verie 
  rare 
  called 
  the 
  Capercalye 
  to 
  name, 
  with 
  the 
  vulgar 
  

   peple, 
  the 
  horse 
  of 
  the 
  forrest, 
  les 
  indeid 
  than 
  the 
  corbie, 
  quhilk 
  

   1 
  The 
  Capercaillie 
  in 
  Scotland, 
  p. 
  99. 
  

  

  