252 



BIRDS. 



hole in a tree, and had ten eggs, and I had the bird in my hand." 

 (I refer here to my journals of date.) 



In 1871 John Macgregor was employed to collect other birds' eggs 

 for Captain H. W. Feilden and J. A. H.-B., with the permission of 

 the lessee of the shootings. No directions were given him regarding 

 Ducks' eggs or down, as sufficient importance had not been attached 

 to his communication of July 1870, and as therefore scarcely any 

 expectations of Ducks' eggs or down were entertained. 



Now, under date of 25th May 1871, John Macgregor writes: 

 " I have some eggs which I shall be glad to send you if you care for 

 them. They are as follows : 'Dun Diver's,'" etc., etc. At this time 

 J. A. H.-B. was in Norway. The eggs were sent to Dunipace unblown 

 during his absence. They were blown by Eobert Finlayson and his 

 son, Malcolm Finlayson.^ They contained full-grown chicks. No 

 down was sent ^vith them. One egg was destroyed in the blowing, 

 and two others badly broken ; but the pieces were preserved carefully. 



On his return from Norway, J. A. H.-B. compared these eggs 

 vdth. the eggs of Scoters and Goosanders taken that season in Norway 

 (1871), and also with a number of Eed-breasted Mergansers' eggs 

 collected by himself in Sutherland, and others in the Hebrides by 

 Captain H. W, Feilden and himself ; and after careful examination, 

 came to the conclusion that they could scarcely belong to any other 

 species than to the Goosander (Mergiis merganser). 



E. E. Alston likewise, when on a visit to Dunipace shortly after- 

 wards, could not separate four from the Perthshire nest from 

 amongst a lot of Norwegian-taken Goosanders. From all the 

 Mergansers' eggs they were easily separable, the distinctions between 

 the two species being, in the opinion of both, very evident. 



To the inside of one of the pieces of broken shell was found 

 adhering some particles of the down of the chick. A single spray of 

 this was forwarded, along with two of the eggs, to Mr. H. E. Dresser ; 

 also a letter, dated 20th August 1871, in which J. A. H.-B. stated the 

 result of the above comparisons, and his convictions regarding their 

 identity. 



Meanwhile, in answer to inquiries, Mr. John Macgregor writes, 

 under date 28th August 1871, a letter from which the following is 

 an extract : " Sir, — I cannot find any down now at the nest, but I 

 will describe the bird as well as I can. It is a large light-grey bird, 

 white underneath ; a long neck, and a crest about two inches long — 

 I mean from the head nearly half-way down the neck. The crest 

 ^ My then gamekeeper and his son. — J. A. H.-B. 



