BIRDS. 



255 



from Mr. Charles Mackintosh, subsequent to the above communica- 

 tion, that he saw " what he took for a brood of Goosanders on the 

 Tay, about two miles above Dunkeld Bridge, and likely the same 

 brood which had been seen by one of the fishermen, but which he took 

 for Cormorants \ " There is no doubt Mr. Mackintosh correctly 

 identified them with his binoculars at a distance of about 150 to 

 200 yards, judging from his very exact description {in lit., 24th July 

 1905). "Since then," he continues, have spoken to the keeper. 

 He has seen them repeatedly, and has no doubt they are Goosanders, 

 having served in parts of the north where Goosanders are more 

 common. He is well acquainted with the species. I have not yet 

 heard of the Goosander breeding on this part of the river, and so 

 thought the above might interest you." // does : because the now 

 well-known tendency of these birds to follmc the stream doicn, and 

 so in time extend their breeding areas, receives another strong illus- 

 tration.^ 



Mergus serrator. L. Red-breasted Merganser. 



Common. Eesident. Breeds. 



The Ked-breasted Merganser i- not at present as abundant a 

 nesting species as the last. Their dispersal, however, is not difficult 

 to trace, and the line of its advances are from northerly, westerly, 

 and north-westerly directions. 



The first full clutch with down was added to the collection in the 

 Perth Museum not before 1895. At that time it was considered not 

 at all a common nesting bird within the Tay Basin or Strathmore. 

 The clutch in question came from Loch Baa in the north-west. 



But there is clear evidence in the late Mr. E. R. Alston's journals 

 of the species nesting on the Black Water Lochs. ^Mien he was 

 residing in Glencoe he obtained the evidence. This was in 1870. 



Now, Don in 1813 merely mentions the Merganser as "occasional 

 on the coast." 



At the time of getting the Loch Baa nest mentioned above, 

 Col. Drummond Hay had not heard of any nesting elsewhere within 

 the Tay Basin. 



It is still by no means abundant, and has not made such rapid 

 progress as it did down the Spey Valley and other parts north of 

 the Great Di^-ide, nor has it appeared in such large numbers as the 



^ I am able to add their appearance in pairs upon the upper and rockier portions 

 of the river Carron above Denny (Forth), in the spring of 1906. In lS7o-6, in winter, 

 large numbers frequented the open waters of Loch Coulter (Forth;, 



