﻿BIBDS. 
  

  

  Ill 
  

  

  fifty 
  years 
  ago, 
  when 
  he 
  lived 
  at 
  Stonehaven, 
  the 
  Raven 
  was 
  

   common 
  there. 
  Ravens 
  built 
  at 
  " 
  Earn's 
  Heugh," 
  "Maitland's 
  

   Hole," 
  and 
  " 
  Kye's 
  Hole," 
  on 
  the 
  estate 
  of 
  Findon 
  ; 
  as 
  also 
  at 
  

   Craigstirling, 
  on 
  the 
  estate 
  of 
  Cammockmore, 
  till 
  1848 
  or 
  1849, 
  

   or, 
  as 
  the 
  writer's 
  informant 
  puts 
  it, 
  " 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  

   the 
  railway 
  was 
  made 
  between 
  Stonehaven 
  and 
  Aberdeen." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  report 
  on 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Strathdon, 
  as 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  

   N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  of 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  pp. 
  534 
  to 
  538, 
  1843, 
  an 
  excellent 
  

   zoological 
  list 
  is 
  given, 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  "Raven 
  

   (C. 
  corax) 
  breeds 
  annually 
  in 
  the 
  Slocks 
  of 
  Glencarvy." 
  

   " 
  Seldom 
  seen 
  except 
  about 
  the 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  Grampians 
  and 
  

   on 
  the 
  Hill 
  of 
  Fare." 
  (Adams.) 
  " 
  Many 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  Raven 
  

   was 
  seen 
  regularly 
  about 
  the 
  higher 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  district 
  at 
  

   Aberdour 
  and 
  Mormond 
  Hill, 
  and 
  used 
  to 
  breed 
  on 
  the 
  cliffs 
  

   near 
  Pennan 
  and 
  Troup 
  Head." 
  (Horn's 
  Birds 
  of 
  Buchan, 
  

   p. 
  241, 
  1880.) 
  

  

  As 
  some 
  indication 
  of 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  Ravens 
  that 
  existed 
  

   in 
  "Dee" 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century, 
  we 
  may 
  quote 
  

   from 
  the 
  association's 
  report 
  for 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  ravenous 
  

   beasts 
  and 
  birds, 
  as 
  mentioned 
  in 
  the 
  0. 
  S. 
  A., 
  vol. 
  xiv., 
  pp. 
  

   348-9, 
  that 
  " 
  forty-two 
  Ravens 
  had 
  been 
  destroyed 
  and 
  their 
  

   destruction 
  paid 
  for." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Ramsay, 
  keeper, 
  Slains, 
  informs 
  me 
  that, 
  in 
  1855 
  or 
  

   1856, 
  he 
  killed 
  three 
  Ravens 
  upon 
  the 
  Links 
  of 
  Collieston, 
  

   where 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  hunting 
  for 
  a 
  week 
  before. 
  These 
  were 
  

   the 
  last 
  seen 
  in 
  that 
  quarter. 
  In 
  the 
  Aberdeen 
  Free 
  Press 
  of 
  

   October 
  27th, 
  1868, 
  a 
  Raven 
  is 
  reported 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  shot 
  

   in 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Lonmay. 
  Two 
  are 
  recorded 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  

   seen 
  by 
  Edward 
  at 
  Gamrie 
  Head 
  on 
  31st 
  December, 
  1850, 
  

   vide 
  Smiles's 
  Life 
  of 
  a 
  Scottish 
  Naturalist, 
  p. 
  218. 
  It 
  was 
  

   reported 
  in 
  the 
  Aberdeen 
  Weekly 
  Free 
  Press 
  that 
  a 
  Raven 
  was 
  

   trapped 
  on 
  Morven 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Cameron, 
  January, 
  1884, 
  

  

  Mr. 
  James 
  Kidd 
  says 
  that 
  while 
  he 
  was 
  keeper 
  at 
  Troup, 
  

   he, 
  in 
  1885, 
  killed 
  four 
  Ravens 
  there. 
  They 
  were 
  the 
  young 
  

   of 
  that 
  year, 
  and 
  had 
  been 
  hatched 
  about 
  Knock 
  Head, 
  

   Whitehills, 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  of 
  Banff. 
  One 
  was 
  received 
  from 
  

   Braemar 
  in 
  1892. 
  Mr. 
  Thomson, 
  late 
  keeper, 
  who 
  lived 
  at 
  

   Dachlash, 
  near 
  Castleton 
  of 
  Braemar, 
  told 
  me 
  in 
  1893 
  that 
  

   the 
  Raven 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  almost 
  daily 
  around 
  his 
  dwelling 
  

   during 
  winter. 
  

  

  In 
  June, 
  1898, 
  I 
  saw 
  several 
  Ravens 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  

  

  H 
  2 
  

  

  