183 
president’s address. 
the owner of a large shooting tract in Perthshire, I had the 
opportunity of seeing that splendid bird the Capercailzie 
(Tetrao urogaUus), breeding on the summit of the pine-clad 
mountains. Accompanied by the keepers as guides, I arrived 
nearly at the top of the mountain, and before long had the 
pleasure of seeing a nest of this species, which was placed 
at the foot of a large pine, with a few dried leaves and sticks, 
simply an apology for a nest, and containing eight eggs. 
After a further search, I saw a tine male fly from a tree. 
He went with his head stretched out and tail slightly raised. 
Soon after a female rose, but I did not get a good view, and 
did not succeed in discovering her nest. 
On the moors, of course, Red Grouse (.Lagopus scoticus) 
are predominant, but Common Sandpipers (Tringoides hgpo- 
leums) will be found breeding on the loch sides, also Curlews 
and Golden Plover. I took a nest of young, in down, of this 
last species, and more beautiful little creatures in their black 
and gold livery I never saw. The keeper and myself were 
watching a pair of old birds, when I heard “ peep,” “ peep,” 
close to me. Of course I at once instituted a search, and 
soon found one of the little fellows, and in a short time 
secured two more. They had run from the nest, and then 
crouched under a piece of heather or against a lichen-covered 
stone, trusting that their colour, assimilating with the sur¬ 
roundings, would prove a protection, but their voices and 
bright eyes betrayed their whereabouts. 
There is a very interesting place a few miles from Towyn, 
called Craig-y-diren or Bird Rock, where some Cormorants 
for years past have taken up their abode during the breeding 
season, leaving again in autumn, and when we come to 
consider that this rock must be about six miles in a straight 
line from the sea, some idea can be formed as to the labour en¬ 
tailed upon the parent birds to feed a numerous family of young 
cormorants when their voracious appetites are considered. 
In the Cader Idris range, Ravens, Buzzards, and Peregrine 
Falcons still continue to hold their own against the perse¬ 
cutions of gamekeepers and shepherds. 
A visit to any of the places I have just sketched would 
teach more to a student than years of book-work, because in 
the first place Nature herself is his teacher, and secondly what 
he sees is so impressed upon his memory through being 
associated with many pleasant episodes that he never forgets 
such knowledge in after years. 
One of the specialities of my collection (and every student 
must necessarily become a collector in his special branch of 
study, as he requires examples for examination and reference) 
