Larbert to Oxford.
1909
Sept 14 [September 14, 1909]
  Forenoon sunny; afternoon cloudy.
  The sun was shining through silvery mist as I
said good bye to Harvie-Brown on the front steps of
his house and started to drive to the station. Robins
were singing in every direction, Rooks and Starlings and
Lapwings, winging their way over the trees towards the
level field. Glancing down the driveway between the laurel
thickets I counted no less than 28 Pheasants scattered
along a stretch about one hundred yards in length. It
was something to remember always - that last glympse [glimpse] of
Dunipace House & its immediate surroundings.
  From the train, as it sped swiftly southward, I saw
between Larbert & the Border even more birds than I had
seen when traversing this region in the opposite direction on the 11th.
The number of Lapwings was fully doubled and that of
Gulls increased many fold. In some of the fields tame
white Geese, with white Gulls of several sizes, black Rooks
and Starlings and black & white Lapwings were mingled
together thickly over a space of several acres among grazing
cattle or sheep. I saw Pheasants in a few places
and very many Rabbits besides a single Hare.
On the 11th I caught sight of a Kestrel but no raptorial 
bird of any kind was noted to-day.
  The Rooks & Starlings were observed everywhere even
in freight yards close to railway stations in the towns
where, as Harvie-Brown assured me, they feed largely
on axle grease which they have learnt to extract from 
the metal boxes in which it is kept ready for use, by
raising the hinged lids with their bills.
After reentering England I saw nothing especially interesting.