﻿166 
  

  

  THE 
  VERTEBRATE 
  FAUNA 
  OF 
  " 
  DEE." 
  

  

  that 
  gentleman's 
  possession. 
  The 
  specimen 
  was 
  preserved 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  Mitchell, 
  and 
  shown 
  by 
  him 
  to 
  the 
  late 
  Professor 
  Mac- 
  

   Gillivray 
  shortly 
  before 
  his 
  death. 
  It 
  was 
  the 
  only 
  example 
  

   of 
  the 
  species 
  ever 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  flesh 
  by 
  that 
  excellent 
  

   ornithologist, 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  invested 
  with 
  a 
  somewhat 
  melan- 
  

   choly 
  interest, 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  very 
  last 
  bird 
  he 
  examined." 
  

  

  Smith, 
  in 
  his 
  New 
  History 
  of 
  Aberdeenshire, 
  published 
  in 
  

   1875, 
  in 
  speaking 
  of 
  " 
  water 
  birds 
  which 
  are 
  common 
  either 
  on 
  

   the 
  sea-shore, 
  or 
  visitants 
  to 
  the 
  Loch 
  of 
  Strathbeg," 
  includes 
  

   in 
  the 
  list 
  "the 
  Common 
  Crane 
  (Grus 
  cinerea);" 
  but 
  the 
  

   zoological 
  portions 
  of 
  this 
  "History" 
  are 
  utterly 
  unreliable. 
  

   " 
  One 
  seen 
  on 
  21st 
  November, 
  1868 
  ; 
  it 
  was 
  pursued 
  and 
  

   teased 
  by 
  a 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  rooks 
  and 
  jackdaws." 
  (George 
  

   Sim, 
  Fyvie, 
  MS. 
  list.) 
  

  

  Family 
  OTIDID^. 
  

   Genus 
  OTIS, 
  Linn. 
  

   Otis 
  macqueeni, 
  Gray. 
  Macqueen's 
  Bustard. 
  

  

  A 
  male 
  was 
  shot 
  near 
  St. 
  Fergus, 
  Pitfour 
  Estates, 
  by 
  

   J. 
  G. 
  Walker, 
  October 
  24th, 
  1898 
  — 
  (recorded 
  in 
  the 
  Annals 
  of 
  

   Scottish 
  Natural 
  History, 
  1899, 
  p. 
  73). 
  

  

  Otis 
  tetrax, 
  Linn. 
  Little 
  Bustard. 
  

  

  This 
  rare 
  and 
  accidental 
  straggler 
  is 
  represented 
  in 
  " 
  Dee 
  " 
  

   by 
  two 
  examples, 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  which, 
  a 
  female, 
  was 
  shot 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  J. 
  B. 
  Manson 
  on 
  the 
  estate 
  of 
  Fingask, 
  Oldmeldrum, 
  

   November 
  13th, 
  1873. 
  It 
  was 
  sent 
  to 
  me. 
  The 
  bird 
  was 
  in 
  

   fair 
  condition 
  ; 
  its 
  stomach 
  was 
  filled 
  with 
  turnip-tops, 
  and 
  

   its 
  weight 
  was 
  1 
  lb. 
  7J- 
  ounces. 
  The 
  second 
  specimen 
  was 
  

   killed 
  at 
  Culter, 
  December 
  10th, 
  1889 
  ; 
  sex 
  and 
  weight 
  not 
  

   noted. 
  It 
  was 
  preserved 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Benzie, 
  Aberdeen. 
  

  

  Family 
  CHARADRIID2E 
  . 
  

   Genus 
  CHARADRIUS, 
  Linn. 
  

   Charadrius 
  pluvialis, 
  Linn. 
  Golden 
  Plover. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  suitable 
  hill 
  within 
  " 
  Dee 
  " 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  

   visited 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  without 
  seeing 
  this 
  bird. 
  Upon 
  

  

  