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  BIRDS. 
  

  

  scattered 
  pairs 
  among 
  the 
  hill-tops 
  of 
  the 
  Carn 
  District 
  of 
  Spey, 
  

   where 
  we 
  have 
  ourselves 
  often 
  met 
  with 
  them, 
  sitting 
  in 
  pairs 
  on 
  

   the 
  plough-land 
  below 
  the 
  heather. 
  They 
  breed 
  also 
  on 
  the 
  Carn 
  

   hills 
  between 
  Deveron 
  and 
  Bogie 
  near 
  the 
  summits 
  of 
  Carn 
  Grua- 
  

   mach, 
  and 
  among 
  the 
  Correen 
  hills 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  1 
  Dee 
  ' 
  adjacent 
  ; 
  

   also 
  among 
  the 
  Cromdale 
  hills, 
  and 
  again 
  high 
  up 
  the 
  Findhorn, 
  

   where 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  many 
  among 
  small 
  pools 
  of 
  water 
  near 
  the 
  

   water-shed 
  above 
  Moy 
  Hall 
  and 
  on 
  Loch 
  Moy 
  itself. 
  In 
  1887 
  — 
  

   a 
  year 
  noted 
  for 
  an 
  increase 
  in 
  Laridse 
  — 
  a 
  colony 
  formed 
  and 
  bred 
  

   at 
  Loch 
  Hatten, 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Kinloss, 
  upon 
  Mr. 
  Mackessack's 
  

   property. 
  Brown 
  says 
  these 
  birds 
  are 
  increasing 
  around 
  Forres 
  

   'beyond 
  belief.' 
  By 
  that 
  year 
  their 
  numbers 
  had 
  vastly 
  in- 
  

   creased 
  among 
  the 
  Culbin 
  Sands, 
  where 
  they 
  breed, 
  occupy- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  summits 
  of 
  the 
  sandhills 
  which 
  have 
  some 
  covering 
  

   of 
  bents, 
  however 
  slight. 
  Large 
  flocks 
  sit 
  on 
  the 
  sands 
  east 
  of 
  

   Findhorn 
  — 
  mostly 
  young 
  — 
  in 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  July. 
  The 
  Com- 
  

   mon 
  Gull 
  also 
  breeds 
  upon 
  islands 
  of 
  the 
  Spey 
  below 
  Grantown 
  

   (W. 
  Evans). 
  

  

  Larus 
  argentatus, 
  Gmel. 
  Herring 
  Gull. 
  

  

  Local 
  Name. 
  — 
  The 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  Gulls 
  generally 
  are 
  called 
  

   1 
  Shuggrie 
  "Willies 
  ' 
  (Brown 
  of 
  Forres). 
  

   The 
  Herring 
  Gull 
  breeds 
  on 
  the 
  hill-sides 
  and 
  edges 
  and 
  islands 
  

   of 
  lochs 
  in 
  the 
  Sutherlandshire 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  but 
  appears 
  to 
  

   become 
  less 
  of 
  an 
  inland 
  species 
  the 
  farther 
  south 
  we 
  go. 
  It 
  

   breeds 
  also 
  on 
  the 
  hill 
  of 
  Tain, 
  and 
  in 
  increasing 
  numbers 
  

   (Jennings, 
  1884). 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  east 
  Sutor 
  of 
  Cromarty 
  the 
  Herring 
  Gull 
  breeds 
  in 
  

   immense 
  numbers, 
  and 
  is 
  quite 
  the 
  Gull 
  of 
  the 
  place. 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  breeds 
  abundantly 
  along 
  the 
  north 
  coast 
  of 
  Aber- 
  

   deenshire 
  at 
  Gamrie, 
  Troup, 
  and 
  Pennan 
  Kocks, 
  as 
  recorded 
  

   by 
  Edward, 
  Sim, 
  and 
  others, 
  and 
  witnessed 
  by 
  ourselves 
  when 
  

   we 
  surveyed 
  that 
  coast 
  in 
  1887 
  from 
  Fraserburgh. 
  In 
  May 
  they 
  

   come 
  up 
  the 
  rivers, 
  and 
  are 
  seen 
  over 
  the 
  inland 
  moors. 
  It 
  occurs 
  

   as 
  far 
  up 
  the 
  Spey 
  as 
  Kingussie, 
  but 
  not 
  as 
  a 
  breeding 
  species. 
  A 
  

   few 
  pairs 
  nest 
  among 
  the 
  bented 
  sandhills 
  of 
  Culbin 
  near 
  the 
  coast, 
  

   but 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  common 
  bird 
  there 
  during 
  the 
  nesting 
  

   season, 
  as 
  only 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  there 
  by 
  any 
  observers. 
  

  

  