﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  89 
  

  

  following 
  July, 
  along 
  with 
  Mr. 
  M'Boyle, 
  I 
  visited 
  Mr. 
  West 
  

   and 
  saw 
  the 
  birds. 
  

  

  In 
  1892, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  Reid, 
  F.E.S., 
  the 
  well-known 
  lepidopterist 
  

   of 
  Pitcaple, 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  observed 
  this 
  bird 
  for 
  

   six 
  or 
  seven 
  years, 
  and 
  always 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  place, 
  viz., 
  the 
  

   south 
  - 
  east 
  shoulder 
  of 
  Bennachie, 
  and 
  always 
  about 
  the 
  

   nesting 
  season. 
  He 
  believed 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  Shrike, 
  and 
  he 
  

   ultimately 
  found 
  its 
  nest. 
  His 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  bird 
  was 
  

   exactly 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Red-backed 
  Shrike, 
  and 
  the 
  egg, 
  which 
  he 
  

   showed, 
  was 
  unquestionably 
  one 
  of 
  that 
  species. 
  

  

  Miss 
  Gordon 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  she 
  and 
  others 
  observed 
  a 
  

   pair 
  of 
  birds 
  " 
  among 
  the 
  shrubbery 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  garden 
  at 
  

   Midmar 
  Castle. 
  They 
  were 
  about 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  Starlings, 
  but 
  

   had 
  longer 
  tails 
  and 
  were 
  chestnut 
  on 
  the 
  back. 
  They 
  killed 
  

   large 
  numbers 
  of 
  her 
  hive 
  bees, 
  and 
  also 
  took 
  humble 
  bees, 
  

   which 
  they 
  transfixed 
  upon 
  thorns." 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  dead 
  bees, 
  

   which 
  were 
  killed 
  in 
  1895 
  and 
  1896, 
  I 
  received 
  from 
  Miss 
  

   Gordon. 
  Evidently 
  these 
  birds 
  were 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  Red-backed 
  

   Shrikes. 
  

  

  [Lanius 
  excubitorides, 
  Swainson 
  and 
  Richardson. 
  American 
  

   Grey 
  Shrike. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  ii., 
  p. 
  289 
  (1852), 
  it 
  is 
  reported 
  by 
  

   John 
  Longmuir, 
  jun., 
  that 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Great 
  North 
  

   American 
  Shrike 
  (Lanius 
  borealis) 
  was 
  shot 
  (the 
  only 
  one, 
  I 
  

   believe, 
  as 
  yet 
  obtained 
  in 
  Britain) 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Thomas 
  M'Kenzie, 
  

   in 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  April, 
  1848." 
  Whether 
  this 
  Aberdeenshire 
  

   specimen 
  was 
  a 
  genuine 
  American 
  Shrike, 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  impossible 
  

   to 
  say. 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  record 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  became 
  of 
  the 
  bird.] 
  

  

  Family 
  AMPELIDiE. 
  

  

  Genus 
  AMPELIS, 
  Linn. 
  

  

  Ampelis 
  garrulus, 
  Linn. 
  Waxwing. 
  ' 
  Bohemian 
  Waxwing." 
  

   " 
  Bohemian 
  Chatterer." 
  

  

  Under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Carolina 
  Chatterer, 
  this 
  bird 
  is 
  

   recorded 
  in 
  the 
  0. 
  S. 
  A. 
  as 
  having 
  occurred 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  

   Strichen 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  vol. 
  v., 
  p. 
  279, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  publication, 
  

   under 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Bohemian 
  Chatterer, 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  as 
  

  

  