BIRDS. 



63 



in winter on the river Tiimmel, out of thousands reared there (auct. 

 late Rev. H. A. Macpherson, MS. in my hands, as well as in a copy of 

 his notes taken while resident at Pitlochry, and written into an inter- 

 leaved copy of Yarrell's British Birds now in the Carlisle Museum). 



Resident about Fordoun, but, says Mr. Milne, rarer than formerly, 

 and scarcer in winter. Mr. Milne quotes a current belief that 

 the higher above the ground a Song-Thrush sits to sing in the 

 morning, the finer the day will prove to be. And he believes this 

 can almost be assured. And the lower down the bird perches before 

 commencing to sing, the worse the weather of that day will be. A 

 gardener at Fordoun was very positive as to this, and Mr. Milne is 

 quite inclined to think that " there is some truth in such observa- 

 tions made." 



" Absent," says Rev. H. A. Macpherson, "all December 1900, and 

 till February 1901. Then they returned in immense numbers. The 

 first was seen on the lltli Februar}^ but the 'rush' came about the 

 19th, and many passed on." Mr. Macpherson then draws a com- 

 parison between the richness of tone and song of Thrushes and Black- 

 birds in the Hebrides and of those in Perthshire, very much in favour 

 of the former, and assigns as a reason the greater scarcity of the 

 birds, as for instance in Skye, and a consequent increase in power 

 of voice in order to admit of its being heard at great distances. 

 Perhaps may be added to this the greater silence and the more 

 highly rarified state of the atmosphere. The general distribution 

 requires no further detail. 



During my survey of the greater part of Tay and Strathmore in 

 May and June 1905, I could not help observing the very light 

 coloration of these birds, especially in the eastern parts, and almost 

 sandy colour of the upper plumage, in marked contrast to the 

 darker, more olive colour of the same parts in this species in the 

 Outer Hebrides, which I have before remarked upon. Why should 

 Mr. Hartert not make these out to be a distinct race ? ^ 



1 I repeat about these differences in coloration of the plumage of the Common 

 Thrush through our series, because it becomes more and more evident how historic 

 teachings are forgotten, or bhirred over, by many of our younger observers in the hurr}-^ 

 of modern "discovery"; even those of Darwin being often relegated to the limbo 

 "at the back of the world w^here the old moons lie." The effects of climate, and of isola- 

 tion and climate combined, as taught in many past Avritings, ought to be considered 

 of historic importance (cf. Ibis, 1863, p. 189). I may point out that this species very 

 well illustrates three fairly distinct phases of coloration in Scotland alone, viz. : the 

 very dark insular and western form universal in the Outer Hebrides ; the ordinary 

 olive-backed bird of our shrubberies and mainland hedgerows ; and the very light sand- 

 coloured bird of our eastern seaboard, as I have mentioned in the text. 



