122 



BIRDS. 



with it there as a nesting species, but Mr. W. Evans found several 

 upon Tents Muir, on the Fife side, on 31st May 1885. 



It is reported rare about Fordoun, and Mr. Milne has only met 

 with it on the side of Strathfinella.i 



In the north and north-west districts, I have met with it abundantly 

 all along the northern boundaries from Dalnacardoch and Dalwhinnie 

 and Loch Ericht side, where it nests commonly in the sides of half- 

 concealed hill burns, or drains which are covered or nearly covered 

 with long heather. It is common at the w^est end of Loch Ericht, 

 and all the way down the river Ericht to Camusericht, where 

 Godfrey also found it abundant. It occurs in rather more scattered 

 dispersal over the fringes of the Moor of Rannoch, but does not 

 affect the centre of that vast stretch of ground, at least not to any 

 great extent, no doubt on account of the great extent and distance 

 from suitable feeding grounds. 



In the vicinity of Logierait and Aberfeldy, and in doubtless many 

 other districts, it is abundant along the fringe of moorlands and abo^ e 

 the tree growths of the sides of the valleys ; but about the lower 

 reaches of Tay it would almost seem to appear only upon migration, 

 as Millais only speaks of it under that value ; and the evidence of its 

 occurrence in the parish of Guthrie, or at least in the lower parts of 

 it, is almost quite in the negative. 



In north-east Fife only occasionally found in winter, but see above 

 (Evans). And Evans met with several in Glen Dochart, and in small 

 family parties high up among the cliffs above Loch an Lairige, and at 

 the head of Morenish Corrie, from the 7th to the 30th August 1905. 



Pyrrhula europaea Vieill. Bullfinch. 



Resident. Common. Breeds. Generally increasing," though rarer locally. 

 In the old Sfatistical Account we only find the Bullfinch mentioned 

 under the parish of Mouievaird and Struan (vol. viii. j). 572, 1703), 

 but the note is of some interest. It is there stated that it was 

 " supposed to be attracted in numbers by the blossoms on the larch- 

 trees at Monievaird and Struan." - 



^ Strathfinella is a somewhat misleading place-name, as it is really a mountain, 

 and not a strath or valley. 



- I wish to mention here that the several accounts under the painshes of Scotland in 

 this old work are well worthy of repeating in extenso, if it be desired to trace out the 

 history of the Bullfinch in the country. But I can only refer to it here, as space 

 demands that I confine myself to the area in hand. It seems, however, that the Bull- 

 finch appeared first in the extreme south-west of Scotland, and spread north in a 

 generally north and north-east direction, and in many parts was utterly unknown at the 

 time the old Stathtical Account was penned. 



