﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  187 
  

  

  Grey 
  Phalaropes, 
  except 
  on 
  phenomenal 
  occasions, 
  whilst 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  time 
  it 
  is 
  regularly 
  haunted 
  by 
  such 
  species 
  as 
  Purple 
  Sand- 
  

   pipers 
  and 
  Turnstones. 
  Both 
  species 
  of 
  Phalaropes 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  in- 
  

   fluenced 
  at 
  once 
  in 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  their 
  flight 
  by 
  the 
  Pentland 
  

   Firth, 
  and 
  seek 
  the 
  west. 
  Their 
  origin 
  is 
  both 
  north-west 
  (Iceland) 
  

   and 
  far 
  north-east 
  (Russia). 
  The 
  Turnstones 
  and 
  Purple 
  Sand- 
  

   pipers, 
  which 
  latter 
  breed 
  in 
  Faeroe 
  and 
  north- 
  eastwards, 
  seem 
  to 
  

   spread 
  all 
  over 
  our 
  coasts, 
  both 
  east 
  and 
  west, 
  perhaps 
  most 
  

   abundantly 
  in 
  the 
  west 
  and 
  Western 
  Isles, 
  yet 
  are 
  still 
  extremely 
  

   abundant 
  on 
  the 
  Berwickshire 
  coast 
  and 
  about 
  the 
  south 
  shore 
  

   of 
  the 
  Firth 
  of 
  Forth. 
  

  

  Phalaropus 
  fulicarius 
  (L.). 
  Grey 
  Phalarope. 
  

  

  A 
  specimen 
  was 
  shot 
  by 
  W. 
  Houston, 
  Esq., 
  on 
  the 
  links 
  at 
  Kin- 
  

   tradwell, 
  Brora, 
  in 
  December 
  1869. 
  Another 
  was 
  obtained 
  at 
  

   Embo, 
  near 
  Dornoch, 
  and 
  preserved 
  (W. 
  Baillie, 
  Aug. 
  1892). 
  

  

  Edward 
  records 
  three 
  others 
  procured 
  on 
  the 
  sands 
  at 
  Sand- 
  

   end. 
  A 
  female 
  was 
  found 
  at 
  Nairn, 
  December 
  1879 
  (vide 
  Inverness 
  

   Courier, 
  December 
  25th, 
  1879). 
  Brown 
  says 
  it 
  is 
  'rare' 
  at 
  Forres. 
  

  

  Scolopax 
  rusticola, 
  L. 
  Woodcock. 
  

  

  Writing 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  1848, 
  St. 
  John 
  says 
  of 
  it, 
  in 
  Sutherland, 
  

   that 
  4 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  it 
  has 
  commenced 
  breeding 
  also 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   large 
  woods' 
  (Tour 
  in 
  Sutherland, 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  137). 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  italicised 
  the 
  words 
  1 
  of 
  late 
  years,' 
  as 
  this 
  makes 
  the 
  

   Woodcock 
  a 
  breeding 
  species 
  even 
  so 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  Sutherland 
  for 
  

   nearly 
  half 
  a 
  century. 
  Now, 
  of 
  course, 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  well-established 
  

   breeding 
  species 
  everywhere 
  throughout 
  our 
  present 
  area. 
  

  

  Writing 
  again 
  in 
  1846, 
  the 
  same 
  author 
  remarks 
  that 
  a 
  few 
  

   years 
  ago 
  no 
  Woodcocks 
  were 
  supposed 
  to 
  breed 
  in 
  Great 
  Britain, 
  

   except 
  a 
  few 
  wounded 
  birds, 
  but 
  that, 
  since 
  the 
  great 
  increase 
  of 
  

   plantations, 
  1 
  great 
  numbers 
  ' 
  remain 
  behind 
  for 
  that 
  purpose, 
  

   mentioning 
  especially 
  in 
  this 
  connection 
  the 
  woods 
  of 
  Altyre 
  and 
  

   Darnaway 
  (Wild 
  Sports 
  of 
  the 
  HigJilands, 
  p. 
  220). 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Vroc. 
  Zool. 
  Soc. 
  for 
  1832, 
  p. 
  133, 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  a 
  very 
  

   interesting 
  communication 
  from 
  Sir 
  F. 
  Mackenzie 
  on 
  the 
  breeding 
  

   of 
  the 
  Woodcock 
  at 
  Conon, 
  IJoss-shire, 
  to 
  1832, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  

   following 
  is 
  a 
  condensed 
  extract 
  : 
  — 
  For 
  several 
  years 
  previous 
  two 
  

  

  