﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  193 
  

  

  to 
  the 
  east 
  — 
  still 
  home-bred 
  birds 
  ; 
  — 
  and 
  last, 
  and 
  much 
  more 
  rarely, 
  

   upon 
  foreign 
  — 
  Scandinavian 
  or 
  European 
  — 
  stock. 
  Our 
  eastern 
  

   coasts, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  are 
  more 
  directly 
  dependent 
  upon 
  stock 
  

   bred 
  far 
  in 
  the 
  east, 
  which 
  reach 
  our 
  shores 
  on 
  an 
  east-to-west 
  

   migration. 
  Such, 
  at 
  least, 
  is 
  our 
  own 
  acceptation 
  of 
  the 
  sequence 
  

   of 
  the 
  turning-points 
  in 
  migration, 
  not 
  only 
  of 
  Woodcocks, 
  but 
  of 
  

   many 
  other 
  species 
  besides. 
  

  

  Gallinago 
  major 
  (Gmel). 
  Great 
  Snipe. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  possible 
  that 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  overlooked, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  may 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  be 
  commoner 
  than 
  is 
  supposed. 
  "We 
  have 
  a 
  notice 
  of 
  one 
  

   killed 
  at 
  Glenshiero, 
  Kingussie, 
  Inverness-shire, 
  in 
  September 
  1884, 
  

   and 
  sent 
  to 
  Macleay 
  of 
  Inverness 
  for 
  preservation. 
  The 
  low 
  flats, 
  

   bordering 
  the 
  Spey 
  about 
  Kingussie, 
  would 
  seem, 
  when 
  not 
  too 
  

   flooded, 
  well 
  adapted 
  to 
  attract 
  such 
  a 
  bird 
  on 
  migration, 
  but 
  we 
  

   have 
  come 
  to 
  consider 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  Moray 
  Basin 
  does 
  not, 
  at 
  the 
  

   present 
  time, 
  lie 
  in 
  the 
  true 
  path 
  of 
  their 
  migration. 
  

  

  Gallinago 
  ccelestis 
  (Frcnzet). 
  Common 
  Snipe. 
  

  

  Though 
  resident 
  and 
  breeding 
  throughout 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  

   our 
  area, 
  the 
  Snipe 
  can 
  nowhere 
  be 
  called 
  abundant. 
  Of 
  course 
  

   there 
  are 
  certain 
  localities 
  where 
  they 
  are 
  more 
  numerous 
  than 
  else- 
  

   where, 
  and 
  on 
  migration 
  any 
  flooded 
  meadow 
  may 
  attract 
  them; 
  on 
  

   one 
  occasion 
  we 
  killed 
  seven 
  couple 
  on 
  the 
  Upper 
  Brora, 
  but 
  these 
  

   cases 
  are 
  exceptional 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  locality. 
  They 
  are 
  not 
  uncommon 
  

   at 
  times 
  amongst 
  the 
  grass 
  that 
  grows 
  on 
  the 
  mud-flats 
  of 
  the 
  

   Beauly 
  Firth 
  — 
  a 
  locality 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  often 
  chosen 
  in 
  Canada 
  

   by 
  Wilson's 
  snipe. 
  

  

  Even 
  of 
  this 
  familiar 
  bird 
  the 
  O.S.A. 
  is 
  very 
  uncommunicative, 
  

   as 
  compared 
  with 
  its 
  notices 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  other 
  districts 
  — 
  Kirkhill 
  

   (vol. 
  iv. 
  p. 
  114) 
  being 
  the 
  only 
  locality 
  given. 
  

  

  The 
  Snipe 
  is 
  not, 
  however, 
  such 
  a 
  very 
  abundant 
  bird 
  on 
  

   the 
  dry, 
  gravelly 
  soil 
  of 
  Moray 
  and 
  Spey, 
  as 
  in 
  moister 
  and 
  more 
  

   suitable 
  districts. 
  It 
  may 
  even 
  be 
  looked 
  upon 
  as 
  uncommon, 
  over 
  

   very 
  large 
  tracts 
  of 
  pine-forest 
  and 
  the 
  gravelly, 
  stony, 
  or 
  sandy 
  

   soil, 
  upon 
  which 
  pine-forests 
  principally 
  thrive. 
  But 
  in 
  marshy 
  bits, 
  

   between 
  the 
  dry 
  Culbin 
  Sands, 
  along 
  the 
  marshy 
  haughs 
  of 
  Spey 
  

   where 
  it 
  breeds 
  plentifully, 
  by 
  certain 
  marshy-edged 
  lochs 
  like 
  

  

  vol. 
  ir. 
  N 
  

  

  