﻿BIEDS. 
  

  

  139 
  

  

  doubt 
  but 
  that 
  this 
  bird 
  was 
  in 
  the 
  past 
  abundant 
  and 
  

   resident 
  ; 
  still 
  although 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  Aberdeenshire 
  lochs 
  

   that 
  do 
  not 
  now 
  exist 
  are 
  spoken 
  of 
  in 
  the 
  0. 
  S. 
  A., 
  no 
  

   mention 
  is 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  various 
  writers 
  of 
  that 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  

   Bittern 
  being 
  a 
  frequenter 
  or 
  even 
  of 
  its 
  having 
  been 
  seen 
  

   about 
  such 
  places. 
  This, 
  however, 
  does 
  not 
  prove 
  that 
  the 
  

   bird 
  was 
  not 
  there, 
  nor 
  even 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  uncommon, 
  for 
  

   although 
  each 
  writer 
  professes 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  " 
  Zoology 
  " 
  of 
  his 
  

   parish, 
  it 
  is 
  generally 
  done 
  in 
  such 
  a 
  slip-shod 
  fashion 
  that 
  it 
  

   is 
  evident 
  he 
  neither 
  knew 
  nor 
  cared 
  much 
  about 
  the 
  matter, 
  

   and 
  would 
  pass 
  it 
  over 
  thus 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  fowls 
  are 
  Eagles, 
  Hawks 
  

   of 
  different 
  kinds, 
  Kites, 
  Black 
  Cock, 
  Grouse 
  or 
  Moorfowl, 
  

   and 
  Ptarmigan, 
  besides 
  every 
  other 
  species 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  

   Highlands 
  of 
  Scotland" 
  but 
  the 
  unfortunate 
  thing 
  is 
  that 
  none 
  

   of 
  them 
  gives 
  a 
  reliable 
  list 
  of 
  what 
  was 
  " 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  

   Highlands;" 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  the 
  "Zoology" 
  of 
  the 
  N. 
  S. 
  A. 
  is 
  

   equally 
  fragmentary 
  and 
  unsatisfactory, 
  for 
  throughout 
  the 
  

   whole 
  of 
  that 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  relative 
  to 
  Aberdeenshire 
  

   it 
  is 
  only 
  mentioned 
  for 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Crimond 
  that 
  " 
  the 
  

   Bittern 
  has 
  been 
  occasionally 
  seen 
  ; 
  " 
  while 
  for 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  

   Longside 
  we 
  are 
  told 
  that 
  " 
  Bitterns 
  and 
  other 
  birds 
  of 
  

   passage 
  visit 
  us 
  in 
  their 
  season." 
  

  

  This 
  paucity 
  of 
  information 
  notwithstanding, 
  we 
  are 
  

   justified 
  in 
  saying 
  that 
  the 
  Bittern 
  is 
  much 
  less 
  common 
  

   throughout 
  " 
  Dee 
  " 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  than 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  

   when 
  there 
  was 
  double 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  ground 
  suitable 
  to 
  its 
  

   wants 
  than 
  there 
  is 
  now 
  ; 
  to 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  added 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  generation 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Mire 
  

   Drum 
  " 
  was 
  well 
  known 
  and 
  perfectly 
  understood. 
  

  

  " 
  A 
  very 
  nice 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  Bittern 
  or 
  Mire 
  Drum 
  

   (A. 
  stellaris) 
  was 
  shot 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  of 
  1824 
  by 
  one 
  of 
  

   Mr. 
  Gordon's 
  of 
  Cairness 
  gamekeepers." 
  (Edward, 
  Naturalist, 
  

   vol. 
  iv., 
  p. 
  243.) 
  " 
  Rarely 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  district, 
  but 
  one 
  was 
  

   shot 
  six 
  or 
  eight 
  years 
  ago 
  [about 
  1852 
  or 
  1853] 
  on 
  the 
  estate 
  

   of 
  Leys." 
  (Adams.) 
  A 
  male 
  was 
  killed 
  by 
  James 
  Allan, 
  Esq. 
  

   of 
  Templand, 
  Auchterless, 
  on 
  20th 
  December, 
  1867, 
  who 
  sent 
  

   it 
  to 
  me. 
  It 
  weighed 
  2J- 
  lbs., 
  and 
  the 
  stomach 
  contained 
  a 
  

   number 
  of 
  water 
  beetles, 
  i.e., 
  D. 
  marginalis. 
  One 
  is 
  reported 
  

   in 
  the 
  Banffshire 
  Journal, 
  January 
  11th, 
  1871, 
  by 
  T. 
  Edward, 
  

   as 
  having 
  been 
  killed 
  at 
  Cuminestown, 
  parish 
  of 
  Monquhitter. 
  

   One 
  was 
  taken 
  alive 
  beside 
  Pitfour 
  on 
  6th 
  April, 
  1888. 
  It 
  was 
  

  

  