BIRDS. 



133 



on October 30th, says : " Mackintyre — a keeper here, but a native of 

 Rannoch — tells me of a colony of Snow-Buntings on the hills west of 

 Rannoch (!). He seems," says Rev. Mr. Macpherson, " to be a reliable 

 man, and is now living in this district." The " hills west of Rannoch " 

 are the mountains of the Blackmount Deer-forest, and may embrace 

 those about the heads of Glens Lochay and Lyon; 



In the north-east of Strathmore and bases of the eastern Grampians, 

 I have the following account from correspondents and other sources. 



Mr. DufF— still alive — {and. Mr. J. Milne) told the late Rev. H. A. 

 Macpherson as follows : " The Snow-Bunting was a well-known bird in 

 Glen Shee, in hlack and white dress in winter, about the homesteads." (The 

 italics are mine.) They were called " Snowbirds." In summer he 

 used to see them running on the "riggs" (? ridges) on the tops of the 

 hills, but, carefully as he sought their nests, he could never find them 

 though he devoted much time to trying to do so. He spoke also of 

 the "grey" plumage in summer, which, as i\Ir. Macpherson remarks, 

 *'is true of the young birds, and in a lesser degree of the female 

 parents." So far this evidence. There may be some little mystifica- 

 tion in this record due to lack of memory of the said correspondent 

 of the late Rev. H. A. Macpherson, but it seems to me the main 

 features of the account are good enough to be repeated. 



Notwithstanding that certain eggs were seen by two London 

 oologists which were taken in comparatively low-lying ground near 

 Fordoun, and were believed to be — or pronounced to be — Snow- 

 Bunting's eggs, I cannot accept the record. The situation was not the 

 least likely, and it is easy even for the most experienced oologists to 

 be mistaken without much more definite authentication than appears 

 to have been exercised on this occasion. My own conespondent now 

 cannot accept them as such. I have since seen one of these eggs — 

 still in the possession of Mr. Milne at Auchenblae — and I have not 

 a shadow of a doubt that it is the egg of a Corn-Bunting, though of 

 small size. 



I have, since the above MS. was written, received undoubted 

 evidence of the Snow-Bunting nesting at a much more southerly 

 locality than has hitherto been recorded, viz. on the spurs of the 

 Grampians which stretch southward between Rannoch and Glen Lyon, 

 at an elevation of some 2750 feet. Nests were found in July 1903, and 

 besides, their breeding there has been well known to intelligent persons 

 during the last few years. Mr. Norman B. Kiiniear first informed 

 me of it, and showed me one egg taken from the nest in July 1903 ; and 

 by directions accurately provided, I was enabled to direct Mr. Norrie 



