﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  183 
  

  

  that 
  if 
  negative 
  evidence 
  is 
  of 
  value 
  at 
  all, 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  

   absent 
  or 
  very 
  much 
  rarer 
  on 
  the 
  rivers 
  one 
  hundred 
  years 
  ago. 
  

   It 
  could 
  scarcely 
  have 
  escaped 
  observation 
  even 
  then, 
  if 
  at 
  all 
  

   common, 
  and 
  it 
  possesses 
  a 
  local 
  name; 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  plenty 
  of 
  

   other 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  in 
  our 
  earlier 
  records. 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  is 
  common 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  Sutherland 
  coast, 
  occurring 
  

   at 
  times 
  on 
  Loch 
  Shin, 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  seen 
  by 
  us 
  up 
  the 
  Cassley 
  

   strath 
  on 
  one 
  occasion. 
  The 
  Oyster-catcher 
  comes 
  up 
  the 
  Beauly 
  

   to 
  Erchless 
  (Macleay), 
  and 
  also 
  up 
  the 
  Conon 
  (Captain 
  Stirling). 
  

   As 
  early 
  as 
  1867 
  this 
  species 
  was 
  observed 
  on 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  Loch 
  

   Ness 
  by 
  Mr. 
  G. 
  Muirhead 
  on 
  the 
  25th 
  of 
  May, 
  and 
  it 
  breeds 
  on 
  

   the 
  river 
  Ness 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  Inverness. 
  In 
  1892 
  we 
  saw 
  a 
  bird 
  

   that 
  had 
  been 
  shot 
  at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  Loch 
  Garry, 
  where 
  it 
  breeds, 
  

   but 
  we 
  have 
  good 
  reason 
  for 
  believing 
  this 
  is 
  a 
  recent 
  extension 
  of 
  

   range. 
  We 
  observed 
  a 
  few 
  pairs 
  at 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  localities 
  along 
  

   Loch 
  Ness 
  in 
  June 
  and 
  July 
  1895. 
  

  

  Edward 
  and 
  Smith 
  both 
  speak 
  of 
  it 
  as 
  common 
  and 
  breeding, 
  

   but 
  as 
  not 
  abundant 
  in 
  winter. 
  Edward 
  says 
  : 
  — 
  ' 
  Now 
  r 
  and 
  then 
  

   it 
  may 
  be 
  seen 
  during 
  winter, 
  but 
  large 
  flocks 
  generally 
  in 
  Sep- 
  

   tember 
  for 
  a 
  day, 
  and 
  then 
  pass 
  farther 
  south.' 
  It 
  is 
  certain 
  that 
  

   Oyster-catchers 
  have 
  bred 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  at 
  inland 
  localities, 
  as 
  

   Dr. 
  Gordon 
  records 
  their 
  arrival 
  in 
  March 
  1844 
  at 
  Lossiemouth, 
  

   and 
  inland, 
  where 
  they 
  still 
  breed 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  fields 
  around 
  the 
  

   loch 
  of 
  Spynie. 
  They 
  usually 
  arrive 
  in 
  April, 
  sometimes 
  as 
  early 
  

   as 
  the 
  12th 
  March, 
  though 
  this 
  is 
  dependent 
  on 
  the 
  season. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  Oyster-catchers 
  penetrate 
  almost 
  to 
  the 
  

   highest 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  river-systems, 
  close 
  under 
  the 
  Cairngorms, 
  far 
  

   up 
  the 
  Spey 
  into 
  Badenoch 
  and 
  Lochaber, 
  and 
  the 
  sources 
  of 
  the 
  

   Nairn 
  and 
  Findhorn, 
  wherever 
  gravelly 
  soil 
  or 
  gravel-beds 
  occur 
  

   in 
  the 
  fields 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  courses 
  of 
  the 
  streams. 
  They 
  have 
  even 
  

   been 
  known 
  to 
  appear 
  on 
  Loch 
  Errochd 
  at 
  the 
  east 
  or 
  north-east 
  

   end, 
  and, 
  as 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  they 
  breed 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  watershed 
  of 
  

   Truim 
  and 
  Garry 
  (Tay). 
  It 
  is 
  needless 
  to 
  multiply 
  illustrations 
  

   of 
  their 
  almost 
  universal 
  distribution. 
  Suffice 
  it 
  to 
  say, 
  further, 
  

   we 
  have 
  ourselves 
  met 
  with 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  nesting 
  seaBon 
  in 
  all 
  of 
  

   the 
  places 
  already 
  named, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  upper 
  waters 
  of 
  nearly 
  every 
  

   suitable 
  stream, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  Deveron, 
  Fiddich, 
  Livet, 
  Avon, 
  

   Findhorn, 
  and 
  tributaries 
  ; 
  but 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  find 
  it 
  so 
  common 
  by 
  

   loch-sides 
  as 
  by 
  river-sides, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  entirely 
  absent 
  from 
  the 
  cold, 
  

  

  