﻿176 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  the 
  flight 
  and 
  participated 
  in 
  the 
  slaughter, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  already 
  

   exceeded 
  the 
  space 
  originally 
  intended. 
  I 
  will 
  not, 
  therefore, 
  

   trespass 
  further 
  on 
  your 
  time, 
  except 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  my 
  friend 
  

   Captain 
  Feilden 
  has 
  written 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  our 
  search 
  for 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  

   E. 
  Dresser's 
  Birds 
  of 
  Europe, 
  which 
  will, 
  doubtless, 
  appear 
  in 
  due 
  

   time. 
  To 
  those 
  who 
  are 
  sufficiently 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  

   these 
  remarks, 
  I 
  may 
  recommend, 
  also, 
  a 
  perusal 
  of 
  the 
  account, 
  

   written 
  in 
  1835 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Heysham, 
  and 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Magazine 
  

   of 
  Natural 
  History 
  (vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  295), 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  species, 
  as 
  

   observed 
  by 
  him 
  amongst 
  the 
  Cumberland 
  hills; 
  or 
  of 
  Mac- 
  

   gillivray's 
  British 
  Birds 
  (vol. 
  iv. 
  p. 
  108 
  et 
  seq.), 
  where 
  the 
  same 
  

   account 
  is 
  partially 
  reproduced.' 
  

  

  Since 
  that 
  date 
  many 
  nests 
  have 
  been 
  obtained, 
  and 
  ornitholo- 
  

   gists 
  realise 
  that 
  the 
  bird 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  considered 
  much 
  rarer 
  

   than 
  it 
  really 
  was. 
  True, 
  a 
  great 
  difference 
  in 
  the 
  numbers 
  

   observed 
  at 
  favourite 
  resting-places, 
  at 
  the 
  seasons 
  of 
  migration 
  in 
  

   many 
  instances 
  — 
  both 
  locally 
  and 
  generally 
  — 
  caused 
  that 
  belief; 
  

   and 
  we 
  think 
  that 
  if 
  any 
  great 
  diminution 
  of 
  numbers 
  took 
  place, 
  

   it 
  was 
  principally 
  caused 
  by 
  local 
  gunners, 
  at 
  these 
  times 
  and 
  

   seasons 
  and 
  places, 
  and 
  not 
  by 
  any 
  great 
  disturbance 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  

   at 
  its 
  high-level 
  breeding 
  haunts. 
  

  

  To 
  us 
  there 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  no 
  really 
  clear 
  evidence 
  of 
  any 
  very 
  

   serious 
  diminution 
  of 
  their 
  numbers 
  ; 
  and, 
  in 
  opposition 
  to 
  the 
  

   general 
  outcry, 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  estimate 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  ablest 
  

   naturalists 
  — 
  Mr. 
  William 
  Evans 
  — 
  of 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  breeding 
  

   pairs 
  — 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  limited 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  Cairngorms, 
  at 
  ten 
  pairs 
  — 
  as 
  

   observed 
  principally 
  by 
  himself 
  in 
  1892, 
  and 
  this 
  notwithstanding 
  

   repeated 
  and 
  systematic 
  raids 
  perpetrated 
  upon 
  them, 
  principally 
  

   by 
  English 
  collectors, 
  who 
  often 
  in 
  their 
  own 
  country 
  pose 
  as 
  

   ' 
  protectionists,' 
  but, 
  with 
  radical 
  twist 
  of 
  conscience, 
  preach 
  

   plunder 
  across 
  the 
  border 
  as 
  perfectly 
  legitimate, 
  and 
  sneer 
  at 
  

   the 
  rights 
  of 
  property 
  over 
  a 
  1 
  mountain 
  in 
  Scotland 
  ' 
  or 
  a 
  ' 
  barren 
  

   island 
  of 
  the 
  Hebrides 
  ' 
  ! 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  abundance 
  of 
  notes 
  and 
  evidence 
  which 
  would 
  enable 
  

   us 
  to 
  lay 
  down 
  very 
  exact 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  Dotterel 
  during 
  the 
  

   nesting 
  season 
  in 
  Scotland, 
  but 
  to 
  naturalists 
  we 
  believe 
  we 
  have 
  

   said 
  enough, 
  by 
  indicating 
  the 
  distribution 
  during 
  migration. 
  

   Suffice 
  it 
  to 
  say, 
  the 
  Dotterel 
  still 
  breeds 
  over 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  about 
  

   2700 
  to 
  3000 
  feet 
  among 
  the 
  Cairngorm 
  and 
  Grampian 
  ranges, 
  and 
  

  

  