6 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



who is a lover of birds and a sympathetic observer of 

 bird life. 



There has not yet been written any adequate 

 account of MacGillivray's life and work; and, un- 

 fortunately, the means of now writing such scarcely 

 exist. It is known that from an early period he kept 

 full and careful journals, by the aid of which a 

 biography of great interest could have been prepared, 

 but these were destroyed years ago, and their place, 

 it is feared, cannot now be supplied from any other 

 source. The following short sketch of his life and 

 work has been prepared from such means as have been 

 found to be yet readily available. 



His life history of fifty-six years may be divided into 

 five successive periods, each of which has its peculiar 

 interest — especially when regarded with reference to 

 the outcome of his many undertakings. 



1. — His Childhood in Harris. 



The first period extends from the time when he 

 left Aberdeen, three years old, for Harris, where his 

 childhood was spent with two uncles, tenants of the 

 farm of Northtown there, brothers of his father, who 

 was then with his regiment, the Cameron Highlanders. 

 He remained there attending the parish school at Obbe 

 until he was eleven years of age, when he returned 

 to Aberdeen for the advantages of further education, 

 which was not obtainable in Harris. During these 



