﻿106 
  

  

  THE 
  VEETEBEATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  " 
  DEE.' 
  

  

  deenshire. 
  On 
  the 
  nest 
  being 
  destroyed 
  by 
  some 
  boys, 
  the 
  

   birds 
  removed 
  to 
  another 
  sand-hole 
  about 
  a 
  mile 
  distant 
  ; 
  but 
  

   Mr. 
  Wilson 
  does 
  not 
  think 
  they 
  succeeded 
  in 
  rearing 
  a 
  brood." 
  

   The 
  substance 
  of 
  this 
  tale 
  is 
  repeated 
  by 
  Horn 
  in 
  his 
  Birds 
  

   of 
  Buchan. 
  Now, 
  I 
  have 
  had 
  correspondence 
  and 
  conver- 
  

   sations 
  with 
  Mr. 
  Wilson 
  on 
  this 
  and 
  kindred 
  subjects, 
  also 
  

   the 
  use 
  of 
  his 
  "Journal 
  of 
  Zoological 
  Observations," 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  

   letter 
  of 
  November 
  8th, 
  1895, 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  I 
  am 
  sorry 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  

   have 
  the 
  chance 
  to 
  kill 
  it. 
  It 
  did 
  stop 
  about 
  the 
  place 
  a 
  

   considerable 
  time, 
  and 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  long 
  enough 
  to 
  bring 
  

   out 
  a 
  young 
  brood. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  policies, 
  about 
  half-a-mile 
  

   from 
  Haddo 
  House, 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  sand-bank. 
  Latterly 
  it 
  

   (the 
  bird) 
  shifted 
  half-a-mile 
  further 
  west. 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  see 
  it 
  

   there, 
  but 
  the 
  labouring 
  men, 
  who 
  had 
  seen 
  it 
  at 
  the 
  first/ 
  

   told 
  me 
  they 
  saw 
  it 
  there 
  ; 
  and 
  there, 
  too, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  sand- 
  

   bank 
  ; 
  " 
  so 
  that 
  all 
  Mr. 
  Wilson 
  says 
  is 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  bird 
  was 
  

   there 
  a 
  considerable 
  time, 
  and 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  long 
  enough 
  

   to 
  bring 
  out 
  a 
  young 
  brood." 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  word 
  of 
  boys 
  having 
  

   destroyed 
  the 
  nest, 
  as 
  told 
  by 
  Angus 
  and 
  reported 
  by 
  Gray 
  ; 
  

   and 
  Wilson 
  assures 
  me 
  that 
  no 
  such 
  tale 
  was 
  ever 
  given 
  to 
  

   Angus 
  by 
  him.] 
  

  

  Family 
  CORVIML 
  

   Genus 
  NUCIFRAGA, 
  Brisson. 
  

   Nucifraga 
  caryocatactes, 
  Linn. 
  Nutcracker. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  it 
  is 
  mentioned 
  that 
  "the 
  rare 
  Nutcracker" 
  

   had 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Alford, 
  and 
  had 
  been 
  

   identified 
  as 
  such 
  by 
  Major 
  Thomas 
  Youngson. 
  There 
  seems 
  

   no 
  reason 
  to 
  doubt 
  the 
  above 
  statement. 
  Major 
  Youngson 
  

   was 
  evidently 
  a 
  good 
  naturalist, 
  and 
  he 
  has 
  left 
  behind 
  him 
  a 
  

   large 
  and 
  beautifully-illustrated 
  volume 
  of 
  MS. 
  upon 
  birds, 
  

   which 
  remains 
  in 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  his 
  son, 
  Thomas 
  Young- 
  

   son, 
  Esq., 
  advocate. 
  

  

  [Gray's 
  Birds 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  p. 
  188, 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  

   the 
  Nutcracker, 
  has 
  the 
  following 
  note 
  : 
  " 
  An 
  example 
  is 
  

   referred 
  to 
  in 
  the 
  Statistical 
  Account 
  of 
  the 
  Parish 
  of 
  Peter- 
  

   head, 
  the 
  writer 
  of 
  which 
  states 
  that 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  

   Nutcracker, 
  killed 
  near 
  that 
  town, 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  

   Mr. 
  Arbuthnot 
  there 
  in 
  1833."] 
  After 
  careful 
  examination 
  I 
  

  

  