s p e c i m e n s , r e c e n t l y killed by others, showing various i n t e r e s t i n g stages of plumage t hat hare
never yet been depicted] but, owing; to the difficulty of knowing where to draw a line if
my original idea was once broken t h r o u g h , I have decided (as in the c u e of the collection,
where every bird now figured may be seen) to limit the d r a w i n g s in these ' Notes ' solely to
specimens I have myself obtained.
It is, I consider, p r e s u m p t u o u s to state one's intentions with regard to the future : if,
however, ' Hough Notes ' should be continued tu further ['arts, the description of the various
species (with the exception of certain classes) will he somewhat c u r t a i l e d ; and possibly eight
or ten Parts, with between sixty and seventy Plates, will suffice to give an account of the
species ( a b o u t 230) t h a t I have met with up to the present date.
I have devoted t h e g r e a t e r portion of my time to s t u d y i n g t h e h a b i t s of the l a r g e r Birds of Prey.
H i g h l a n d Game, W a d e r s , Wildfowl, anil Sea-birds. Concerning the r e m a i n i n g families my experience
is comparatively limited, and many will h a v e to be t r e a t e d with simply a few passing r e m a r k s.
1 t a k e this o p p o r t u n i t y of t e n d e r i n g my best t h a n k s to those gentlemen a n d s p o r t s m e n who have
s o kindly assisted me by g r a n t i n g permission to explore their estates or s h o o t i n g - r a n g e s ; without
t h e i r h e l p my collection would have been small indeed.
I n conclusion, 1 must beg my r e a d e r s to n u k e due allowance for the p r o d u c t i o n s of one who is
but l i t t l e a c c u s t o m e d t o i n d o o r work.
E. T. BOOTH.
Srptemhrr 1881.
[At the last moment ( t o o late for insertion in P a r t I . ) 1 have decided to add a d r a w i n g of the
adult male Kite. This Plate will appear in a f u t u r e P a r t .]
I N T R O D U C T I O N .
MO R E years t h a n I anticipated have been spent in describing the habits of the birds procured and
t h e production of the coloured Plates for ' Hough Notes.' During the time which lias elapsed several
other birds have been obtained, and it is n ow necessary that twenty- l i v e years, instead of twenty
as at first stated, should be given as t h e period over which my observations extend.
The assistance of the men well t r a i n e d in the use of ropes, from the Bass Rock in the Firth
of Forth and other q u a r t e r s , whom I t o o k with me, r e n d e r e d the w o r k of r e a c h i n g the nests of the
(•olden Kagles on the mainland, and the W h i t e - t a i l e d Eagles on the W e s t e r n Islands, r e m a r k a b l y easy,
all our attempts to descend the rocks or cliffs being made without a mishap. While in p u r s u i t of
Skuas, Fulmars, and other Gulls in the N o r t h Sea, I was luckily able to hire some of the most
powerful double-engine tug-steamers employed at Yarmouth, and we met with very good sport,
shooting and obtaining specimens. We also caught exceedingly heavy cod, and the largest silver
whiting that have come under my observation, for several years d u r i n g the fishing-season, when the
immense flocks of b i r d s were collected about t w e n t y miles off the land, where the luggers from the
h a r b o u r s on our southern and eastern coasts, and the Scotch craft (numbering in those days
about sixty or seventy), were following the course of the h e r r i n g s . It is a remarkable fact that
t h e commencement of all the gales and bad weather we encountered assisted in b r i n g i n g us more
r a p i d l y towards the h a r b o u r s for which we were making.
To search thoroughly over t h e high tops of the Highland mountains where the Ptarmigan pass
t h e winter months is by no means easy. Being, however, well acquainted witli the p a r t s of the hills
t h e y frequented, no accidents occurred, t h o u g h , no doubt, we had some r a t h e r n a r r ow escapes.
L i t t l e beyond what has come under my own observation is given in ' Kough N o t e s ' ; much
information, however, is recorded t h a t was picked up from those whose occupations have given them
o p p o r t u n i t i e s for m a k i n g observations on t h e birds frequenting t h e hills in the most r e m o t e p a r t s of the
Highlands, on the marshes and low g r a s s - l a u d s in t h e fens, and also at sea in the fishing-luggers. A
few e x t r a c t s are made from two or three of o u r old ornithological a u t h o r s , who described the h a b i t s of