36 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 
The Golden-toothed Sheep of Aberdeenshire.—For cen- 
turies tradition has related that the hill of Dunnideer, which stands 
prominently beside the railway near Insch, bore sheep with teeth 
of gold. The story, which has a scientific explanation, is well 
told in Bishop Leslie’s Azstorie of Scotland (1578): ‘In the 
Gareoth [Garioch] is ane montane, quhilke goldne thay cal, the 
vulgar and commone stile of this montane is Dunedere, because 
it is said to abund in golde [the interpretation being, presumably, 
dun, a hill, and doré, golden]. This thay collecte of the scheip, 
quhilkes ar fed in this mountane, quhais teith and fleshe in lyke 
maner ar yallow, as with the cullour of golde thay had bene littid.” 
The fact underlying the tale is that the teeth of the sheep were 
covered with a yellow coating having a bright metallic sheen, and 
this the “vulgar and commone” of long ago understood to be 
gold, while sceptics of more recent years have suggested, with 
equal inaccuracy, that it might be a deposit of iron pyrites. 
The truth is that the yellow “metallic” deposit is not con- 
fined to the sheep of Dunnideer, but has been found on the 
teeth of sheep elsewhere, as well as on those of many mammals, 
including the ox, camel, tapir, eland, bison, hippopotamus, bears, 
and even man himself. Careful analysis and examination by 
Thomas Steel (Chemical Mews, 4th February 1921) and others, 
have shown that the incrustation is a deposit from the saliva, 
composed largely of lime, phosphoric oxide, and organic matter. 
The deposit is laid down upon the surfaces of the teeth in thin 
layers, and the deceitful metallic appearance is due to the refraction 
of light by the overlapping edges of these microscopic layers.— 
JAMES RITCHIE. 
Visitation of Waxwings.—A number of occurrences of the 
Waxwing have been noted during the winter. The Scotsman of 
5th March 1921 mentioned that ‘“‘two beautiful specimens were 
captured in Lanarkshire, in the vicinity of Larkhall, last month,” 
and we have received the following notes :— 
Waxwings in Haddingtonshire—On 19th December 1920 a 
pair of Waxwings was seen at North Berwick, resting or feeding 
on a bush of Garvrya in full bloom in a garden, and on the 
following day two were seen at Lochhouses, Seacliff, near the 
mouth of the Tyne, where they are said to have been shot.— 
W. M. IncLeEs, North Berwick. 
Waxwings in Dumfriesshire—Two Waxwings were shot near 
Penpont, Dumfriesshire, on 24th January 1921. They were young 
birds, and, on dissection, proved to be male and female. No 
other Waxwings were seen.—HuGuH S. GLADSTONE. 
