164

40

J. Colquhoun The Moor & the Loch

p. 14 "Young Capercailzie thrice better under the foster-care of the grey-hen, than if left to their natural protectress" Hence the Keepers change their eggs (Yet Caper-cailzie are aboriginal.

[in margin:] Hybrids

p. 18 case of Hen grouse yielding 2 cock-hybrids to black cock in confinement.

[in margin:] Instinct

p 45 case of dog, who tryed to bring over two winged wild duck across a stream - failed, & though never known a ruffle a feather, he deliberately killed one & brought over the other winged one & returned for the dead one. (Hence knew well object of retrieving.)

(Q)

p. 97 Mountain or Hill Fox, any one from a distance will be struck with its difference from the small cur of the low grounds
(Q)

p 98 kills many lambs & even full-grown sheep.

[164v]

Time of Pairing /

Number of Young /

[165]

p 98 rears his young not in old badger or other hole in a wood, but these choose a cleft in rocks in some wild craggy ravine

Q

p. 105 He stands high on his legs, which are very muscular; his head is very broad & his nose not nearly so peaked; his coat is more shaggy mixed with white hairs, an invariable mark of a hill-fox. The brush not longer, less white on the tip & is very bushy. (NB He describes well the difference of Alpine & common Hare & appears accurate observer.)

Q

p. 107 The wild-cat has seldom more than 3 or 4 young insert (in Chapt 3), often only 2 at a time

p 196 The Best time for trapping Foxes is from beginning of January — when the males follow the females — till March. (So that they pair in an inclement season, however, perhaps not the worst time for carnivores getting food. (Spring is the usual time for most animals).

[165v]

40

Colquhoun, John. 1840. The moor and the loch: containing practical hints on most of the Highland sports; and notices of the habits of the different creatures of game and prey in the mountainous districts of Scotland. Edinburgh and London. [30 October 1844]