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  THE 
  VEETEBEATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  " 
  DEE." 
  

  

  1838, 
  mentions 
  having 
  had 
  one 
  sent 
  to 
  him 
  from 
  Aberdeen- 
  

   shire. 
  These 
  are 
  the 
  only 
  recorded 
  instances 
  known 
  to 
  me 
  of 
  

   this 
  little 
  animal's 
  appearance 
  within 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  our 
  

   district, 
  except 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  list 
  of 
  the 
  Mammalia 
  for 
  the 
  

   parish 
  of 
  Banchory-Ternan, 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  Harvest 
  Mouse 
  

   is 
  found 
  on 
  p. 
  333 
  of 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  of 
  Kincardineshire. 
  As 
  

   this 
  list 
  is 
  manifestly 
  incorrect 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  particulars, 
  

   however, 
  this 
  statement 
  requires 
  confirmation. 
  

  

  Mus 
  sylvaticus, 
  Linn. 
  Long-tailed 
  Field 
  Mouse. 
  

   Wood 
  Mouse. 
  

  

  Common 
  in 
  every 
  locality 
  over 
  the 
  whole 
  district 
  of 
  

   "Dee." 
  

  

  Mus 
  musculus, 
  Linn. 
  House 
  Mouse. 
  

  

  Abundant 
  everywhere. 
  

  

  Mus 
  rattus, 
  Linn. 
  Black 
  Rat. 
  "Rottin/' 
  

  

  " 
  Not 
  uncommon 
  ; 
  in 
  and 
  about 
  houses, 
  even 
  the 
  most 
  

   remote." 
  (MacGillivray.) 
  The 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Stewart 
  Burnett 
  in- 
  

   formed 
  me 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  colony 
  of 
  Black 
  Rats 
  at 
  Cairnton 
  

   of 
  Kemnay 
  in 
  1855, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  he 
  obtained. 
  In 
  a 
  letter 
  

   I 
  received 
  from 
  the 
  above-named 
  gentleman, 
  dated 
  January 
  

   31st, 
  1891, 
  he 
  says: 
  "I 
  am 
  now 
  able 
  to 
  give 
  you 
  all 
  information 
  

   in 
  my 
  power 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  Black 
  Rat 
  from 
  Journals 
  of 
  different 
  

   dates. 
  As 
  far 
  as 
  my 
  recollection 
  goes 
  (back 
  to 
  1830), 
  the 
  rats 
  

   at 
  Kemnay 
  House 
  were 
  then 
  all 
  black. 
  I 
  saw 
  many 
  about 
  the 
  

   out-houses 
  and 
  ash-pits, 
  including 
  one 
  pied, 
  and 
  also 
  saw 
  

   them 
  in 
  the 
  clutches 
  of 
  our 
  cat 
  who 
  ate 
  them 
  eagerly, 
  which 
  

   is 
  rather 
  exceptional 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Brown 
  Rat. 
  That 
  the 
  

   present 
  Brown 
  Rats 
  were 
  then 
  common 
  in 
  Aberdeen, 
  I 
  knew 
  

   about 
  that 
  time. 
  A 
  country 
  servant 
  who 
  had 
  never 
  seen 
  

   these 
  brown 
  ones, 
  on 
  going 
  to 
  my 
  grandmother's 
  in 
  Old 
  Town 
  

   from 
  Kemnay 
  House, 
  took 
  to 
  putting 
  out 
  crumbs 
  as 
  done 
  at 
  

   Kemnay 
  then 
  in 
  behoof 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  birds 
  in 
  winter, 
  and 
  

   horrified 
  her 
  fellow- 
  servants 
  by 
  shewing 
  the 
  crowd 
  of 
  ' 
  bonnie 
  

   brown 
  beasties 
  ' 
  she 
  had 
  assembled 
  as 
  crumb 
  pensioners. 
  In 
  

   East 
  Lothian, 
  where 
  I 
  was 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  three 
  years, 
  I 
  found 
  

   Brown 
  Rats 
  common 
  enough 
  from 
  1845 
  to 
  1848, 
  but 
  the 
  

  

  