1892 - 93 .] Prof. Duns on Scottish Mammals and Birds. 
51 
tion, of much interest in themselves, and in the conditions associated 
with them. But the exhibition was delayed for a time. 
With regard to these remains, the sources of earliest information 
are mainly two — literature and geology. With the former we 
associate Adamnan’s Vita Sancti ColumhcB, say, a.d. 697 ; Boece’s 
Scotorum Kistoria a Prima Gentis Origine^ a.d. 1526 ; Lesley’s De 
Origine Moribus et Rehis Gestis Scotorum, a.d. 1578; and Sibbald’s 
Scotia Illustrcda, sive Prodr omus Historice Naturalis, a.d. 1684. 
These works were characterised, and it w^as pointed out that they 
supply materials for a pretty full statement of the surroundings of 
the animals at the time wdien they were first referred to. They, and 
other works of the same class named, contain valuable information 
on subjects not likely to attract the attention of the specialist, but 
of much importance in the ancestral history of any one species. 
In looking at organic remains from the point of view of the 
geology of the surface, much will depend on the qualifications of 
the observer. Conditions may be met with the right interpretation 
of which may have important bearings on our estimate of the 
remains of mammal or of bird associated with them. The influence 
of such considerations on questions connected with the geographical 
distribution and associations of some extinct and some early historic 
forms was discussed and illustrated, and the question of the contem- 
poraneity of Man with several extinct mammals was referred to. 
These earliest records are interesting also from the point of view of 
the migration of mammals and birds. This was illustrated by 
reference to the remains of the reindeer {Germs tarandus), found 
in Scottish superficial deposits, and to historic notice of the seasonal 
occurrence of the crane {Grus communis) in Scotland so early as the 
seventh century. Eeinains of the reindeer have been found in 
seven counties of Scotland, in England, Ireland, Belgium, and the 
South of France. The chief area of its distribution in Scotland 
seems to have been in the north. Do the remains met with in 
southern Scottish counties point to its seasonal wanderings ^ 
As to the crane : Lesley, who distinguishes between the heron 
{Ardea), the stork {Ciconia), and the crane {Grus), says there were 
many cranes {plurimi grues) in Scotland in his day. It was thus 
at one time abundant seasonally. Now, however, not more than 
one or two in a century find a place in the ornithological record. 
