Deer in time of snow
are shot on the hills. The mole is in evidence everywhere up to the 1500 feet level, by the mole-heaps he leaves in every field, and the mole-catcher is a familiar character in most parishes. The squirrel has worked his way north during the last sixty years, and is now to be found in every fir-wood. The graceful roedeer is also a denizen of the pine-woods, whence he makes forays on the oat-fields. The red-deer is abundant on the higher and more remote hills, and deer-stalking is perhaps the most exciting as it certainly is the most exacting of all forms of Scottish sport. The pole-cat is rarely seen; he is best known to the present generation in the half-domesticated breed called the ferret. The hedge-hog, the common shrew, and the water-vole are all common.
The Dunbuy Rock
The birds are numerous and full of interest. The coast is frequented by vast flocks of sea-gulls, guillemots, and cormorants, while the estuary of the Ythan has many visitants such as the ringed plover, the eider-duck, the shelduck, the oyster-catcher, redshank, and tern. On the north bank of this river the triangular area of sand-dunes between Newburgh and Collieston is a favourite nesting-place for eider-duck and terns. The nests of the eider-duck, with their five large olive-green eggs embedded in the soft down drawn from the mother’s breast, are found in great numbers amongst the grassy bents. The eggs of the tern, on the other hand, are laid in a mere hollow of the open sand, but so numerous are they that it is almost impossible for a pedestrian to avoid treading upon them. Puffins or sea-parrots are conspicuous amongst the many sea-birds that frequent Dunbuy Rock. This island rock, half-way up the eastern coast, is a typical sea-bird haunt, where gulls, puffins, razorbills and guillemots are to be seen in a state of restless activity. A colony of black-headed gulls has for a number of years bred and multiplied in a small loch near Kintore. A vast number of migratory birds strike the shores of Aberdeenshire every year in their westward flight. The waxwing, the hoopoe, and the ruff are occasional visitors, the great northern diver and the snow-bunting being more frequent.
The game-birds of the district are the partridge and the pheasant in the agricultural region, and the red grouse on the moors. The higher hills, such as Loch-na-gar, have ptarmigan, while the wooded areas bordering on the highland line are frequented by black-cock and capercailzie. These last are a re-introduction of recent years and seem to be multiplying; but, like the squirrel, they are destructive to the growing shoots of the pine trees and are not encouraged by some proprietors. The lapwing or green plover’s wail is an unfailing sound throughout the county in the spring. These useful birds are said to be fewer than they were fifty years ago—a result probably due to the demand for their eggs as a table delicacy. After the first of April it is illegal to take the eggs, and this partial protection serves to maintain the stock in fair numbers. The starling, which, like the squirrel, was unknown in this district sixty years ago, has increased so rapidly that flocks of them containing many thousands are now a common sight in the autumn. The kingfisher is met with, very, very rarely on the river-bank, but the dipper is never absent from the boulder-strewn beds of the streams. The plaintive note of the curlew and the shriller whistle of the golden plover break the silence of the lonely moors. The golden eagle nests in the solitudes of the mountains and may occasionally be seen, soaring high in the vicinity of his eyrie.
Of fresh-water fishes, the yellow or brown trout is plentiful in all the rivers, especially in the Don and the Ythan. The migratory sea-trout and the salmon are also caught in each, although the Dee is pre-eminently the most productive. The salmon fisheries round the coast and at the mouth of the rivers are a source of considerable revenue. The fish are caught by three species of net, bag-nets (floating nets) and stake-nets (fixed) in the sea, and by drag-nets or sweep-nets in the tidal reaches of the rivers. Time was when drag-nets plied as far inland as Banchory-Ternan (19 miles), but these have gradually been withdrawn and are now relegated to a short distance from the river mouth, the rights having been bought up by the riparian proprietors further up the river, who wish to obtain improved opportunities for successful angling. The Dee has, in this way, been so improved that it is now perhaps the finest salmon-angling river in Scotland.
The insects of the district call for little remark. Butterflies are few in species and without variety. It is only in certain warm autumns that the red admiral puts in an appearance. The cabbage-white, the tortoise-shell, and an occasional meadow-brown and fritillary are the prevailing species.
The waters of the Ythan, the Ugie, and the Don are frequented by fresh-water mussels which produce pearls. These grow best on a pebbly bottom not too deep and are 3 to 7 inches long and 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 broad. The internal surface is bluish or with a shade of pink. The search for these mussels in order to secure the pearls they may and do sometimes contain was once a recognised industry. To-day it is spasmodic and mostly in the hands of vagrants. Many beds are destroyed before the mussels are mature and this lessens the chances of success. The pearl-fisher usually wades in the river, making observation of the bottom by means of a floating glass which removes the disturbing effect of the surface ripple. He thus obtains a clear view of the river-bed, and by means of a forked stick dislodges the mussels and brings them to bank, 150 making a good day’s work. He opens them at leisure and finds that the great majority of his pile are without pearls. If he be lucky enough, however, to come upon a batch of mature shells he may find a pearl worth £20. As a rule the price is not above ten or twenty shillings. Much depends on the size and the colouring. The most valuable are those of a pinkish hue.