Obituary. 637 



Sheld-Duck, Terns, and Oystercatcliers were also breeding 

 about the Ythan — the Sheld-Duck in holes and rabbit- 

 burrows, the others on the shingle, as a rule further up 

 the river. 



The Terns were in hundreds about the estuary, hovering 

 hawk-like, and then darting with a splash down into the 

 river after the myriads of young sand-eels, which, with sea- 

 trout below and the birds above, had a poor time. I noticed 

 many young Terns being fed by the parents ; so they appar- 

 ently nest during May. They seem to feed almost from 

 daylight till dark, except during certain stages of the tide, 

 wlien apparently the young eels are not plentiful ; then the 

 birds rest in flocks on the sand-banks, or mussel-beds, 

 exposed by low water — which reminds me that the Eider 

 Duck also seems to feed on the small mussels. 



Among other birds I have noticed are Curlew, Red- 

 shanks, Ringed Plover, and Herring-Gulls, and I am 

 informed that the Black-backed Gulls sometimes breed in 

 the neighbourhood. 



XXXll.— Obituary. 

 John Alexander Harvie-Brown. 

 The ranks of Scottish naturalists have suffered a great 

 loss by the death of Dr. Harvie-Brown, who died on July 26 

 last, at the age of 72. In early life a very active man and 

 a keen sportsman, he travelled widely, but of late years he 

 has been unable to move about and is therefore little known 

 to the younger generation of ornithologists. 



Boin at Dunipace House in Stirlingshire (where he died) in 

 August 1844, he M'as the only son of John Harvie-Brown of 

 Qnarter and Shirgarton and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas 

 Spottiswoode of Dunipace. He was educated at Merchiston 

 and subsequently at Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities. 

 At Cambridge he became acquainted with Professor Newton, 

 with whom he remained on intimate terms until the death 

 of the latter in 1907. 



In 1871 and 1872 he visited, in company with the late 



