﻿96 
  

  

  THE 
  VERTEBEATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  " 
  DEE." 
  

  

  to 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  Banffshire, 
  and 
  Caithness, 
  in 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  

   counties 
  several 
  specimens 
  have 
  been 
  obtained 
  ; 
  " 
  but 
  he 
  gives 
  

   no 
  authorities 
  for 
  those 
  findings, 
  without 
  which 
  the 
  state- 
  

   ment 
  is 
  of 
  little 
  value. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  within 
  my 
  knowledge 
  that 
  a 
  

   specimen 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  found 
  within 
  " 
  Dee."] 
  

  

  Genus 
  PASSER, 
  Brisson. 
  

   Passer 
  domesticus, 
  Linn. 
  House-Sparrow. 
  

  

  Abundant 
  throughout 
  our 
  area. 
  

  

  Passer 
  montanus, 
  Linn. 
  Tree 
  Sparrow. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  a 
  scarce 
  and 
  extremely 
  local 
  species. 
  One 
  was 
  

   shot 
  in 
  1847, 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  Aberdeen, 
  by 
  Mr. 
  

   Thomas 
  MacKenzie, 
  latterly 
  Sheriff 
  of 
  Sutherland, 
  and 
  was 
  

   presented 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  the 
  late 
  Dr. 
  MacGillivray. 
  "Found 
  

   breeding 
  near 
  Stonehaven 
  by 
  myself." 
  (Colonel 
  Drummond 
  

   Hay, 
  in 
  " 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  Ornithology 
  of 
  the 
  East 
  of 
  Scotland," 
  

   1884.) 
  I 
  examined 
  one 
  that 
  was 
  killed 
  near 
  Stonehaven, 
  

   December 
  10th, 
  1885. 
  Mr. 
  George 
  Sim, 
  Fyvie, 
  informs 
  me 
  

   that 
  one 
  was 
  shot 
  at 
  Darnabo, 
  Fyvie, 
  November 
  3rd, 
  1894. 
  

   "Seen 
  occasionally 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  Grampian 
  ranges." 
  (Adams's 
  

   Birds 
  of 
  Banchory 
  -Teman.) 
  

  

  The 
  Tree 
  Sparrow 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  reported 
  to 
  the 
  author 
  

   as 
  breeding 
  around 
  Aberdeen 
  ; 
  but 
  on 
  every 
  occasion 
  where 
  he 
  

   has 
  had 
  an 
  opportunity 
  of 
  seeing 
  these 
  "tree 
  sparrows" 
  they 
  

   have 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  Passer 
  domesticus 
  that 
  had 
  taken 
  to 
  building 
  

   its 
  nest 
  in 
  trees, 
  in 
  which 
  cases 
  the 
  nest 
  was 
  a 
  doomed 
  one. 
  

  

  One 
  was 
  caught 
  near 
  Portlethen 
  in 
  August, 
  1897, 
  and 
  was 
  

   exhibited 
  in 
  a 
  bird 
  show 
  in 
  Aberdeen 
  as 
  a 
  common 
  sparrow. 
  

   Its 
  true 
  character 
  was 
  there 
  recognised 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Galloway, 
  

   Aberdeen, 
  who 
  bought 
  it 
  and 
  kept 
  it 
  alive 
  for 
  a 
  considerable 
  

   time. 
  In 
  his 
  hands 
  I 
  had 
  an 
  opportunity 
  of 
  examining 
  it. 
  

   Again, 
  on 
  25th 
  October, 
  1889, 
  a 
  specimen 
  was 
  shot 
  by 
  

   W. 
  H. 
  Ritchie, 
  Esq., 
  Dunnottar, 
  who 
  sent 
  it 
  to 
  me. 
  In 
  a 
  MS. 
  

   by 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Stewart 
  Burnett, 
  the 
  heads 
  of 
  a 
  lecture 
  

   delivered 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  Port 
  - 
  Elphinst 
  one 
  School 
  in 
  1875 
  on 
  

   " 
  Birds 
  occurring 
  in 
  the 
  district," 
  and 
  lately 
  shown 
  to 
  me 
  

   by 
  Dr. 
  W. 
  Tait, 
  Inverurie, 
  he 
  mentions 
  having 
  found 
  a 
  dead 
  

   Tree 
  Sparrow 
  at 
  Conglass. 
  

  

  