SHORT SKETCHES OF THE WILD SPORTS AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HIGHLANDS. By Charles St. John. With a new Introduction to the 1986 re-issue by Colin Laurie McKelvie.

(1846) 1986 facsimile of the 1893 edition. Large 8vo (160 x 240mm). Ppxxxvi,319. Illustrated with b/w plates and vignettes by Harrison Weir, Charles Whymper and others. Purple cloth, titled and decorated in gilt on spine and upper board.

This is Charles St. John's famous description of the Highlands in the early years of the nineteenth century. "What at present renders (this book) especially valuable is that Scotland and the Scotch fauna have considerably changed during the last half-century. The variety and abundance of wild life here described can never again be seen. Fortunately a true picture of that departed past is preserved in St. John's vivid narratives.. ..Thus many animals and birds which were sufficiently common in St. John's time are now rare and seldom seen. It has been thought advisable, therefore, in this edition to add a few notes in order to illustrate the instincts or traits of these creatures, their prevalence or scarcity. Some more general remarks have also been appended here and there to clear up any obscurity or bring out associations which might otherwise have been forgotten.. ..The additional notes of the author, marked C. St. J., are printed word for word from an interleaved copy of Jermyn's manual of British Vertebrate animals. They are interesting as showing the exactitude and brevity of St. John's notes. At times they also throw further light upon the text." Chapters include: Highland lakes, small lochs ravens, wildcats, char, night fishing, trolling large trout on Loch Ness, flies, fishing with the otter (board); Roe; Grouse, partridge, marten cat, stags snaring grouse; The wild cat; Poaching in the Highlands; Salmon fishing, flies, fly making; Owls of various species, shrike, reptiles; Peculiarites and instincts of different animals; Eagles and falcons; Hen harriers, kestrels, merlins, hobbies; Otters (the mammal, this time); Weasels, ferrets, martens, stoats; Anecdotes and instincts of dogs, retrievers, shepherds' dogs; Wood pigeons, their increase, other species of pigeon; Wild ducks; Birds that come in spring, pewits, ring dotterels, redshanks, oyster catchers, curlews, redstarts, swallows, etc; Sheldrakes, teals, landrails, cuckoos, nightjars, quails, grebes, coots, water hens, water rails; Wild geese, different kinds of wild geese, black headed gulls, birds that breed on the river banks; The sandhills of Morayshire, foxes, roe deer; Death of my first stag; The Findhorn River; Migration of birds in October, swan shooting; Water ouzels, kingfishers, terns; The Muckle Hart of Benmore; Different kinds of gulls, the boatswain gull; Woodcock, snipe, jack snipe; Seals, anecdotes, seal shooting, catching seals; Fox hunting in the Highlands; The badger; Autumn day on the mountain, stags and hinds, death of the stag; Peculiarities and instincts of different animals, knowledge of change of weather; Coursing deer; Tameness of birds when sitting; Variety of game.