TJie Scottish Naturalist. 
5 
and presently it floated up minus the ' cuddy,' but with the hook 
still there. Again, a second time, the seal caught the hooked fish, 
but this time, holding on to the rod; the gut was broken, and fish 
and hook were carried off by the seal. N.B. — To verify this by 
questioning the shepherd. 
*^'Sept. 25th, Saturday — . ... I saw the shepherd and 
questioned him about the seal story of the 17th, and he fully 
corroborates the carpenter's account, only that it was thrice the 
seal took off the hooked fish — not twice. The shepherd saw the 
seal plainly when it seized the cuddy on the hook, and also again 
when it tried unsuccessfully to do so — its want of success being 
due to the shepherd jerking the fish clear." Mr. Burn-Murdoch 
then continues in his letter, I often chatted with the men about 
the incident, and have not the slightest doubt about its being 
perfectly true. We were constantly fishing 'cuddies' in the even- 
ings at that time, and the seals — one or two of them — were 
regularly round us at close quarters, and quite fearless. We 
never fired at them in the neighbourhood of Glenborrodale, 
on purpose to encourage their presence, so that the fact of one 
being so bold as to take the hooked fish seemed the less extra 
ordinary." 
The above incident illustrates how much might be done by 
our West Highland lairds and their shooting tenants to encourage 
and protect these interesting animals on the shores of our High- 
land lochs. 
LIST OP BIRDS OBSERVED IN THE VALLEY OF 
THE SPEY DURING AUGUST AND PART OP 
SEPTEMBER, 1889. 
By William Evans, F.R.S.E., M.B.O.U. 
THE following list is based entirely on daily notes which I 
made while spending a holiday on the Spey in the autumn 
of 1889. My temporary abode was at Kincraig, near Loch 
Insch : and the part of the valley chiefly investigated lies between 
