BIRDS. 



307 



though the hard, rugged bed of the latter river does not appear to 

 hold out great inducements after Blair or Struan is passed. In the 

 same way they ascend as far as Loch Eigheach, on the Gower river, 

 and even beyond into the eastern part of the Moor of Kannoch; 

 but I have not learned that they reach so far as Loch Luydon or 

 Loch Baa. 



Thus it will be seen that the Oystercatcher in our eastern dis- 

 tricts is far less of a coast-frequenter than of an inland nester; 

 whilst on the west coast it is comparatively rarely seen inland, and 

 literally swarms among the rocky islands of the Inner and Outer 

 Hebrides, and to all appearances vastly prefers the rocky haunts 

 there to the very different sites it chooses to occupy in the east. 



They seem to push up the Truim water (which flows to Spey in 

 Moray) almost to the watershed at or near Dalwhinnie, but are not 

 to be seen on the Tay side of the same watershed nearer than Loch 

 Garry, and not there very often. 



But in the winter the Oystercatchers throng down, and finally 

 assemble in vast flocks upon the " mussel-scalps " ^ of Tay and Eden- 

 mouth, often to the extent of thousands, as I have frequently 

 witnessed from the far end of the St. Andrews Golf Links. In the 

 muddier " slinks " of Forth, and the Stirlingshire shore, where fewer 

 mussels occur, the flocks of Oystercatchers are proportionately 

 smaller — say hundreds instead of thousands. 



It is quite worthy of passing remark that, while no note is taken 

 by the Rev. Mr. M'Connochie of the Oystercatcher remaining to 

 nest around Guthrie or the lochs of the Forfar district, he mentions 

 that they are constantly heard passing overhead at the spring 

 migration period, and that they occasionally visit these same lochs. 



It is included as a resident in north and north-east Fife; but 

 I think this can only be to a very limited extent — as a breeding 

 species. 



Family SCOLOPACIDiE. 



[Recurvi rostra avocetta, L. Avocet. 



Very rare occasional visitant. 



Dr. Dewar gives it as "Very rare — Montrose Basin." I have failed to 

 obtain anything more definite regarding this specimen, except that it has been 

 in the Montrose Museum for upwards of twenty years, and that it had been 

 shot in the Basin, I, however, elicited the fact that the donation book of the 

 Museum has been lost, and there is no account of it in the annual reports of 

 the directors. For all practical purposes it may, I think, repose in brackets.] 



