﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  161 
  

  

  killed 
  at 
  Glenbervie, 
  September 
  23rd, 
  1893. 
  In 
  the 
  same 
  

   year, 
  Mr. 
  George 
  Sim, 
  Fyvie, 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  a 
  Quail 
  

   was 
  heard 
  by 
  him 
  from 
  20th 
  May 
  till 
  12th 
  June 
  ; 
  and 
  on 
  

   9th 
  September 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  one 
  was 
  killed 
  at 
  Wartle 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  W. 
  Leslie. 
  Again, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  year, 
  a 
  nest 
  containing 
  

   thirteen 
  eggs 
  was 
  found 
  near 
  Newburgh, 
  on 
  the 
  Ythan, 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  Murray, 
  who 
  brought 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  to 
  me 
  for 
  identifica- 
  

   tion. 
  On 
  October 
  29th, 
  1895, 
  a 
  female 
  was 
  shot 
  upon 
  the 
  

   links 
  a 
  little 
  to 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Don, 
  and 
  was 
  brought 
  by 
  

   its 
  captor 
  to 
  the 
  writer. 
  The 
  above-mentioned 
  species 
  were 
  

   all 
  extremely 
  fat, 
  and 
  their 
  stomachs 
  filled 
  with 
  various 
  seeds 
  

   and 
  small 
  beetles. 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  have 
  heard 
  of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Morayshire 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  

   most 
  northern 
  locality 
  known 
  to 
  me 
  with 
  certainty 
  is 
  the 
  

   parish 
  of 
  Towie 
  in 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  whence 
  my 
  friend 
  Mr. 
  

   Craigie 
  sent 
  me 
  twelve 
  eggs 
  that 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  grass 
  field 
  

   by 
  a 
  mower." 
  (MacGillivray.) 
  

  

  " 
  I 
  have 
  eggs 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  near 
  Banchory 
  - 
  

   Ternan 
  in 
  Kincardineshire. 
  A 
  party 
  or 
  brood 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  

   haunted 
  a 
  cornfield 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  Kintore, 
  in 
  September, 
  1869." 
  

   (Stewart 
  Burnett, 
  Scottish 
  Naturalist, 
  vol. 
  i., 
  p. 
  85.) 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  0. 
  S. 
  A. 
  for 
  the 
  parish 
  of 
  Lonmay, 
  Quails 
  find 
  a 
  

   place 
  in 
  the 
  list 
  of 
  birds 
  given. 
  

  

  Family 
  TETRAONIDiE. 
  

  

  Genus 
  LAGOPUS, 
  Brisson. 
  

  

  Lagopus 
  cinereus, 
  MacG. 
  Ptarmigan. 
  

  

  To 
  this 
  beautiful 
  bird 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Lagopus 
  mutus 
  has 
  been 
  

   given 
  ; 
  but 
  such 
  an 
  appellation 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  to 
  be 
  misapplied. 
  

   Often 
  on 
  the 
  summits 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  our 
  high 
  mountain 
  ranges, 
  

   where 
  little 
  life 
  is 
  visible, 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  startled 
  by 
  the 
  snorting 
  

   cry 
  of 
  the 
  Ptarmigan 
  as 
  it 
  arose 
  from 
  some 
  lichen 
  - 
  covered 
  

   cairn 
  ; 
  and 
  where 
  the 
  bird 
  is 
  fairly 
  numerous 
  the 
  cry 
  can 
  be 
  

   heard 
  repeated 
  on 
  all 
  sides, 
  evidence 
  surely 
  that 
  mutus 
  cannot 
  

   be 
  applied 
  to 
  it. 
  In 
  such 
  localities 
  I 
  have 
  watched 
  the 
  bird 
  

   while 
  it 
  was 
  yet 
  in 
  its 
  winter 
  dress, 
  when 
  it 
  had 
  assumed 
  its 
  

   mottled 
  spring 
  garb, 
  and 
  when 
  in 
  its 
  beautiful 
  blueish-grey 
  

   summer 
  robes. 
  Again, 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  it 
  month 
  by 
  month 
  

   gradually 
  returning 
  to 
  its 
  cold 
  - 
  like 
  wintry 
  white 
  ; 
  and 
  

   although 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  asserted 
  that 
  each 
  of 
  these 
  changes 
  

  

  