﻿BIEDS. 
  

  

  151 
  

  

  [Clangula 
  albeola, 
  Linn. 
  Buflfel 
  -headed 
  Duck. 
  

  

  Gray 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Yarrell, 
  in 
  his 
  History 
  of 
  British 
  

   Birds, 
  mentions 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Mumery, 
  curator 
  of 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  

   Natural 
  History 
  at 
  Margate, 
  sent 
  him 
  word 
  of 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  

   this 
  Duck 
  having 
  been 
  obtained 
  in 
  Orkney 
  by 
  himself 
  in 
  1841. 
  

   I 
  had 
  long 
  looked 
  upon 
  this 
  record 
  as 
  the 
  only 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  

   bird's 
  occurrence 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Tweed, 
  until 
  Mr. 
  Angus 
  showed 
  

   me 
  a 
  beautiful 
  male 
  which 
  was 
  shot 
  on 
  the 
  Loch 
  of 
  Loirston, 
  

   Aberdeenshire, 
  in 
  January, 
  1865. 
  A 
  few 
  days 
  later 
  Mr. 
  

   Edward, 
  of 
  Banff, 
  showed 
  me 
  a 
  specimen 
  — 
  also 
  a 
  male 
  — 
  which 
  

   had 
  been 
  shot 
  many 
  years 
  ago 
  in 
  the 
  Loch 
  of 
  Strathbeg, 
  and 
  

   placed 
  in 
  the 
  Banff 
  Museum 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  Smith, 
  minister 
  

   of 
  Monquhitter."] 
  

  

  It 
  seems 
  strange 
  that 
  Edward 
  makes 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  this 
  

   bird 
  in 
  his 
  list 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Birds 
  of 
  Strathbeg 
  ;" 
  nor 
  does 
  it 
  find 
  a 
  

   place 
  in 
  the 
  list 
  supplied 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  Smiles's 
  Life 
  of 
  a 
  

   Scottish 
  Naturalist. 
  It 
  may 
  just 
  be 
  as 
  well 
  to 
  say 
  here 
  that 
  

   the 
  Loch 
  of 
  Loirston, 
  where 
  the 
  above-mentioned 
  specimen 
  is 
  

   said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  killed, 
  is 
  in 
  Kincardineshire. 
  

  

  Genus 
  COSMONETTA, 
  Kaup. 
  

   Cosmonetta 
  histrionica, 
  Linn. 
  Harlequin 
  Duck. 
  

  

  The 
  late 
  Col. 
  W. 
  Ross 
  King 
  frequently 
  told 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  

   shot 
  a 
  Harlequin 
  in 
  Aberdeenshire. 
  He 
  also 
  records 
  the 
  fact 
  

   in 
  his 
  handsome 
  volume 
  The 
  Sportsman 
  and 
  Naturalist 
  in 
  

   Canada, 
  p. 
  231. 
  This 
  occurred 
  in 
  Buchan 
  in 
  1858, 
  and 
  when 
  

   we 
  take 
  into 
  account 
  Col. 
  King's 
  extensive 
  and 
  accurate 
  

   acquaintance 
  with 
  our 
  feathered 
  tribes, 
  there 
  can 
  be 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  that 
  what 
  he 
  stated 
  is 
  in 
  exact 
  accordance 
  with 
  fact. 
  

   It 
  is 
  unfortunate 
  that 
  the 
  same 
  cannot 
  be 
  said 
  regarding 
  

   Edward's 
  observations 
  relative 
  to 
  this 
  bird. 
  In 
  his 
  paper 
  

   on 
  the 
  " 
  Birds 
  of 
  Strathbeg," 
  already 
  frequently 
  quoted, 
  he 
  

   says 
  : 
  "It 
  is 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  winters 
  since 
  a 
  most 
  beautiful 
  speci- 
  

   men 
  of 
  the 
  Harlequin 
  was 
  shot 
  there 
  by 
  a 
  rabbit-catcher, 
  who, 
  

   I 
  believe, 
  for 
  the 
  sake 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  paltry 
  sum 
  more 
  than 
  he 
  was 
  

   offered 
  on 
  the 
  spot, 
  sent 
  it 
  ... 
  . 
  away 
  south." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  April, 
  1890, 
  Mr. 
  Mutch, 
  gamekeeper, 
  saw, 
  

   on 
  the 
  lake 
  at 
  Pitfonr, 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  Harlequin. 
  

  

  