﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  147 
  

  

  From 
  Sutherland 
  we 
  hear 
  that 
  this 
  decrease 
  in 
  the 
  black 
  game 
  

   still 
  continues. 
  Although 
  preserved 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  at 
  Badenloch, 
  

   the 
  increase 
  was 
  scarcely 
  noticeable, 
  and 
  certaiuly 
  would 
  not 
  

   compensate 
  for 
  the 
  decrease 
  elsewhere. 
  In 
  some 
  parts 
  of 
  that 
  

   district 
  of 
  our 
  area 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  practically 
  extinct 
  for 
  many 
  

   years, 
  where 
  formerly 
  they 
  were 
  very 
  abundant, 
  and 
  we 
  ourselves 
  

   have 
  noticed 
  their 
  gradual 
  decrease 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  years. 
  

  

  Millais 
  remarks 
  the 
  same 
  thing 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  Black 
  Isle 
  

   at 
  p. 
  30 
  of 
  his 
  Game 
  Birds. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  a 
  difficult 
  thing 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  

   few 
  brace 
  for 
  the 
  table 
  at 
  localities 
  where 
  formerly 
  they 
  actually 
  

   swarmed. 
  1 
  

  

  Black 
  game 
  are 
  great 
  wanderers. 
  At 
  a 
  shooting 
  we 
  once 
  held 
  

   in 
  East 
  Ross-shire, 
  black 
  game 
  were 
  very 
  plentiful 
  in 
  a 
  glen 
  that 
  

   was 
  noted 
  for 
  the 
  abundance 
  of 
  1 
  blaeberries 
  ' 
  growing 
  there. 
  "We 
  

   shot 
  very 
  few 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  season, 
  trusting 
  to 
  get 
  

   them 
  later 
  on, 
  by 
  driving, 
  when 
  the 
  birds 
  would 
  be 
  good 
  and 
  give 
  

   more 
  sporting 
  shots. 
  However, 
  when 
  the 
  right 
  time 
  came 
  we 
  

   found 
  very 
  few 
  indeed, 
  and 
  at 
  last 
  they 
  were 
  not 
  worth 
  the 
  

   trouble 
  of 
  looking 
  after, 
  having 
  shifted 
  their 
  quarters 
  elsewhere. 
  

  

  St. 
  John, 
  writing 
  of 
  black 
  game, 
  says 
  :— 
  'Though 
  nearly 
  allied 
  

   to 
  Grouse, 
  and 
  though 
  mules 
  between 
  Black 
  Grouse 
  and 
  Pheasants 
  

   are 
  not 
  very 
  rare, 
  I 
  only 
  know 
  of 
  two 
  specimens 
  of 
  mule 
  birds 
  

   between 
  Black 
  and 
  Red 
  Grouse. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  other 
  birds 
  which 
  

   have 
  been 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  cross 
  between 
  these 
  birds, 
  but 
  they 
  

   have 
  generally 
  appeared 
  to 
  me 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  hen 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  Grouse 
  

   gradually 
  changing 
  her 
  plumage 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  cock, 
  which 
  they 
  

   do 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner 
  as 
  the 
  Pheasant 
  does. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  speci- 
  

   mens 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  Edinburgh 
  Museum, 
  and 
  has 
  the 
  distinguishing 
  

   marks 
  of 
  both 
  its 
  parents 
  most 
  decidedly' 
  (Natural 
  History 
  and 
  

   Sport 
  in 
  Moray, 
  pp. 
  221-2). 
  

  

  The 
  O.S.A. 
  gives 
  Mortlach 
  ; 
  Cromdale 
  ; 
  Mov 
  and 
  Dalarossie 
  

   (Findhorn), 
  Kirkmichael 
  (Spey), 
  as 
  localities, 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  

   south 
  of 
  the 
  Ness. 
  

  

  1 
  [In 
  1895, 
  however, 
  and 
  for 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  years 
  previously, 
  black 
  game 
  have 
  been 
  

   decidedly 
  more 
  numerous 
  in 
  Strathnaver 
  and 
  its 
  vicinity, 
  but 
  more 
  to 
  the 
  east. 
  This 
  

   increase 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  taken 
  place 
  to 
  any 
  appreciable 
  extent, 
  and 
  on 
  some 
  

   shootings 
  they 
  are 
  as 
  scarce 
  as 
  ever. 
  To 
  this 
  hide- 
  light 
  wo 
  may 
  add 
  that 
  a 
  very 
  

   general 
  increase 
  was 
  observed 
  over 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  Scotland 
  during 
  the 
  time 
  men- 
  

   tioned.] 
  

  

  