﻿200 
  

  

  BIRDS. 
  

  

  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Garry 
  ; 
  we 
  saw 
  a 
  few 
  pairs, 
  also, 
  in 
  a 
  marsh 
  

   at 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  Loch 
  Luichart. 
  

  

  ■ 
  Here 
  and 
  there 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  ; 
  breed 
  inland,' 
  is 
  Edward's 
  

   record. 
  The 
  Redshank 
  is 
  fairly 
  abundant 
  all 
  over 
  our 
  area 
  : 
  it 
  

   is 
  seen 
  as 
  high 
  up 
  the 
  straths 
  as 
  Delnabo 
  and 
  Tomintoul, 
  on 
  

   Avon, 
  and 
  the 
  bases 
  of 
  the 
  Cairngorms. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  less 
  abundant 
  along 
  the 
  Deveron. 
  Two 
  or 
  three 
  pairs 
  

   nest 
  between 
  Corniehaugh 
  and 
  Avochie 
  (Lower 
  Deveron), 
  and 
  a 
  

   few 
  pairs 
  along 
  the 
  Isla. 
  We 
  did 
  not 
  observe 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  Upper 
  

   Deveron 
  in 
  July, 
  but 
  met 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  pairs 
  there 
  in 
  June 
  1892. 
  

   It 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  another 
  somewhat 
  early 
  autumn 
  migrant, 
  like 
  

   the 
  Common 
  Sandpiper. 
  

  

  The 
  Eedshank 
  arrives 
  early 
  in 
  April. 
  We 
  have 
  observed 
  a 
  

   somewhat 
  earlier 
  appearance 
  of 
  both 
  it 
  and 
  the 
  Common 
  Sand- 
  

   piper 
  near 
  the 
  heads 
  of 
  the 
  glens 
  of 
  Moray, 
  and 
  the 
  eastern 
  rivers 
  

   of 
  Scotland, 
  than 
  lower 
  down 
  the 
  same 
  streams, 
  indicating, 
  we 
  

   believe, 
  the 
  routes 
  of 
  spring 
  migration. 
  According 
  to 
  the 
  advanc- 
  

   ing 
  seasons 
  one 
  would 
  expect 
  the 
  lower 
  and 
  earlier 
  districts 
  to 
  be 
  

   populated 
  first, 
  but, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  these 
  two 
  species, 
  and 
  

   probably 
  of 
  others, 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  so. 
  

  

  The 
  Redshank 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  still 
  a 
  spreading 
  species. 
  

   It 
  is 
  said 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  occupied 
  certain 
  peat-moss 
  land 
  near 
  Free- 
  

   burn 
  and 
  Tomatin 
  on 
  the 
  Findhorn 
  until 
  quite 
  of 
  late 
  years. 
  On 
  

   the 
  other 
  hand, 
  Lewis 
  Dunbar 
  assures 
  us 
  they 
  were 
  abundant 
  thirty 
  

   years 
  ago 
  in 
  the 
  adjoining 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Dulnan. 
  They 
  do 
  not 
  appear 
  

   to 
  be 
  very 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  forest 
  districts 
  of 
  Spey 
  — 
  not 
  nearly 
  so 
  

   abundant, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  May, 
  as 
  the 
  Greenshank 
  is 
  around 
  Loch 
  

   Morlich. 
  

  

  The 
  Eedshank 
  was 
  considered 
  by 
  Hinxman, 
  and 
  also 
  by 
  our- 
  

   selves, 
  as 
  unusually 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  Carn 
  district 
  of 
  Glen 
  Livet, 
  

   Deveron, 
  and 
  Fiddich 
  in 
  1892. 
  Undoubtedly 
  their 
  numbers 
  — 
  like 
  

   those 
  of 
  many 
  species 
  — 
  fluctuate 
  with 
  the 
  seasons. 
  

  

  A 
  few 
  pairs 
  breed 
  about 
  the 
  east 
  end 
  of 
  Loch 
  Spynie, 
  but 
  they 
  

   do 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  particularly 
  numerous 
  in 
  that 
  locality. 
  

  

  Thirty 
  years 
  ago, 
  however, 
  far 
  up 
  Strathspey 
  and 
  along 
  

   the 
  meadows 
  of 
  Badenoch 
  and 
  Lochaber, 
  we 
  can 
  remember 
  

   how 
  abundant 
  this 
  bird 
  was 
  at 
  these 
  higher 
  elevations 
  beyond 
  

   Kingussie, 
  especially 
  alongside 
  the 
  slow-flowing 
  upper 
  waters 
  of 
  

   Spey, 
  the 
  pike-haunted 
  backwaters 
  and 
  old 
  courses 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  

  

  