﻿170 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  the 
  birds 
  in 
  Macleay's 
  shop, 
  and 
  they 
  passed 
  into 
  the 
  possession 
  

   of 
  Smithson, 
  Esq. 
  of 
  Lentran. 
  

  

  Family 
  OTIDID.E. 
  

  

  Otis 
  tarda, 
  L. 
  Great 
  Bustard. 
  

  

  If 
  we 
  go 
  back 
  to 
  ancient 
  history 
  we 
  find 
  sufficient 
  evidence 
  in 
  the 
  writ- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  Hector 
  Boece 
  to 
  warrant 
  the 
  Great 
  Bustard 
  being 
  included 
  

   in 
  the 
  Fauna 
  of 
  Scotland. 
  Thus 
  says 
  that 
  author, 
  writing 
  in 
  

   1527: 
  — 
  'And 
  beside 
  thir 
  thre 
  uncouth 
  kind 
  of 
  fowlis 
  (previously 
  

   spoken 
  of, 
  viz. 
  : 
  — 
  Capercailye, 
  mure 
  cokis 
  and 
  black 
  cokis) 
  is 
  ane 
  

   uthir 
  kind 
  of 
  fowlis 
  in 
  the 
  Mers, 
  mair 
  uncouth, 
  namit 
  gustardis, 
  

   als 
  meikle 
  as 
  ane 
  swan 
  ; 
  bot 
  in 
  the 
  colour 
  of 
  thair 
  fedderis, 
  and 
  

   gust 
  of 
  thair 
  flesche, 
  thay 
  ar 
  litil 
  different 
  fra 
  ane 
  pertrik. 
  Thir 
  

   last 
  fowlis 
  ar 
  not 
  frequent, 
  bot 
  in 
  few 
  noumer 
  ; 
  and 
  sa 
  far 
  haitis 
  

   the 
  cumpany 
  of 
  man, 
  that 
  gif 
  thay 
  find 
  thair 
  eggis 
  aindit 
  {i.e. 
  

   breathed 
  upon) 
  or 
  twichit 
  be 
  men, 
  thay 
  leif 
  thaim, 
  and 
  layis 
  eggis 
  

   in 
  ane 
  othir 
  place. 
  Thay 
  lay 
  their 
  eggis 
  in 
  the 
  bair 
  erd 
  ' 
  {Scotland 
  

   before 
  1700, 
  p. 
  84). 
  

  

  The 
  account 
  by 
  Bishop 
  Leslie 
  is 
  merely 
  a 
  repetition 
  of 
  Hector 
  

   Boece, 
  and 
  dates 
  some 
  fifty 
  years 
  later, 
  viz. 
  1578 
  {loc. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  139, 
  

   q.v.). 
  The 
  above 
  remarks 
  refer 
  really 
  to 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  Scotland 
  

   than 
  the 
  strict 
  limits 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  area. 
  

  

  1 
  One 
  was 
  shot 
  in 
  1803 
  in 
  Murrayshire 
  by 
  William 
  Young, 
  Esq. 
  

   of 
  Borough 
  Head 
  ' 
  (Fleming's 
  British 
  Animals). 
  

  

  Otis 
  tetrax, 
  L. 
  Little 
  Bustard. 
  

  

  Gray, 
  referring 
  to 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  Scotland, 
  says 
  {Birds 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  of 
  

   Scotland, 
  p. 
  249) 
  :— 
  

  

  * 
  A 
  third 
  — 
  a 
  female 
  — 
  was 
  obtained 
  in 
  Morayshire 
  on 
  8th 
  

   February 
  1861 
  : 
  it 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Westfield, 
  about 
  four 
  or 
  five 
  miles 
  

   from 
  Elgin, 
  and 
  when 
  first 
  seen 
  was, 
  along 
  with 
  a 
  flock 
  of 
  Wood 
  

   Pigeons, 
  in 
  a 
  turnip-field 
  picking 
  the 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  plants. 
  This 
  bird, 
  

   which 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  fine 
  specimen, 
  now 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  

   Elgin 
  Museum, 
  where 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  and 
  examined 
  it. 
  A 
  fourth 
  

   Little 
  Bustard 
  was 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  county 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  

   last-mentioned 
  bird 
  was 
  killed. 
  It 
  was 
  observed 
  on 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  

   different 
  occasions, 
  but 
  was 
  so 
  shy 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  not 
  admit 
  of 
  a 
  

   nearer 
  approach 
  than 
  200 
  yards.' 
  

  

  