﻿164 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  some 
  years 
  ago 
  from 
  Kurrachee 
  by 
  the 
  Hall 
  line 
  of 
  steamers. 
  

   They 
  were 
  sent 
  in 
  beautifully 
  fitted 
  boxes, 
  and 
  twenty-seven 
  of 
  

   them 
  reached 
  here 
  alive, 
  but 
  some 
  were 
  rather 
  bruised 
  about 
  the 
  

   head 
  from 
  knocking 
  themselves 
  about, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  live 
  very 
  long. 
  

   I 
  put 
  them 
  first 
  into 
  the 
  Pheasant 
  yard, 
  and 
  after 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  

   turned 
  out 
  half 
  a 
  dozen, 
  none 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  ever 
  got 
  a 
  glimpse 
  of 
  

   after. 
  As 
  the 
  others 
  gradually 
  drooped 
  off 
  I 
  took 
  the 
  remaining 
  

   seven 
  or 
  eight 
  into 
  the 
  vinery, 
  where 
  they 
  lived 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  years, 
  

   and 
  the 
  two 
  last 
  survivors 
  I 
  had 
  stuffed, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  

   hall. 
  I 
  fear 
  this 
  climate 
  is 
  too 
  cold 
  and 
  damp 
  for 
  them, 
  and 
  they 
  

   were 
  very 
  wild 
  in 
  confinement. 
  They 
  never 
  attempted 
  to 
  breed. 
  

   My 
  friend 
  Mr. 
  Coghlan, 
  who 
  sent 
  them 
  to 
  me, 
  is 
  still 
  at 
  Kur- 
  

   rachee, 
  where 
  he 
  is 
  the 
  Magistrate. 
  — 
  Yours 
  very 
  truly, 
  (Signed) 
  

   George 
  Inglis' 
  (in 
  lit. 
  13th 
  October 
  1894).] 
  

  

  Obs. 
  — 
  Meleagris 
  gallopavo. 
  Wild 
  Turkey. 
  — 
  Captain 
  Ellice 
  writes 
  

   us 
  that 
  his 
  uncle, 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Ellice, 
  M.P., 
  of 
  Invergarry, 
  turned 
  

   out 
  some 
  wild 
  American 
  Turkeys 
  there. 
  ' 
  They 
  are 
  getting 
  

   wilder, 
  and 
  go 
  every 
  night 
  almost 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  into 
  the 
  

   woods 
  to 
  roost 
  ; 
  but 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  they 
  were 
  as 
  tame 
  as 
  the 
  

   domestic 
  birds' 
  (in 
  lit. 
  November 
  28th, 
  1885). 
  In 
  another 
  letter, 
  

   dated 
  December 
  21st, 
  1887, 
  the 
  same 
  gentleman 
  writes 
  us 
  that 
  

   ' 
  the 
  wild 
  turkeys 
  bred 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  this 
  year, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  still 
  

   very 
  tame, 
  and 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  fed 
  in 
  the 
  winter.'] 
  

  

  Order 
  GRALL^J. 
  

  

  Family 
  RALLIDJE. 
  

  

  Crex 
  pratensis, 
  Bechst. 
  Landrail. 
  

  

  Local 
  Names. 
  — 
  Corn-craig, 
  Corn-scrack, 
  Corn-scraich. 
  

  

  In 
  1847 
  Hepburn 
  remarks 
  that 
  the 
  Landrail 
  was 
  found 
  about 
  

   Glen 
  Urquhart, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  common 
  there 
  now 
  (A. 
  Craig). 
  The 
  

   species 
  occurs 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  districts 
  from 
  whence 
  we 
  have 
  notes, 
  

   in 
  greater 
  or 
  less 
  abundance, 
  but 
  from 
  our 
  own 
  observation 
  does 
  not 
  

   seem 
  to 
  be 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  from 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  

   cultivated 
  area. 
  We 
  have 
  shot 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  heather 
  at 
  Balnacoil, 
  

   in 
  Sutherland, 
  and 
  also 
  at 
  Kintradwell, 
  when 
  hunting 
  the 
  brackens 
  

   and 
  whins 
  for 
  rabbits. 
  

  

  