PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE, lxxxvii 
about the tree, always ascending and getting the insects out of the 
bark. As it climbs up the tree it taps upon the bark to see if the 
wood under it is decayed. If it finds such a place, it tears off the 
bark and takes all the insects out of the decayed matter.” 
A girl aged 15, living at a farm near Dunkeld, gives her experience 
as follows :—“Among wading birds, the Heron may be taken as an 
example. ... It feeds mostly on fish, frogs, and water rats. It 
has, however, been known to eat young water hens, and its liking for 
eels has often caused it to lose its life. It has now become rare, and 
is not often seen near the habitations of man. I have, however, seen 
it in a small stream quite near to my home. It came for several 
days, but I have never seen it standing for any length of time, as I 
disturbed it through being too impatient to get near it.” 
A boy of 14, writing from Aberfeldy, opens his essay with some 
general remarks on the Study of Bird Life, in which the following 
passage occurs:—“To us in this country, birds offer the greatest 
scope for observation, because their varieties are greater than those 
of any other animal, and besides there is a peculiar interest attaching 
to them, as inhabitants of the air;—their lightness, their grace, their 
song, the strength of some, the weakness of others, the cunning, 
the quickness of movement,—these and other qualities make 
them worth watching.” Proceeding to describe the habits of 
the Blackbird, as illustrated by its feet and bill, he says:—“Just 
now, as I am writing, a Blackbird is busy on the grass in front of the 
window. The snow, which has been lying there for a week, has dis¬ 
appeared during the night, and now “ blackie ” is not exactly making 
hay while the sun shines but picking up as much food as possible 
while the snow is away.” 
Another competitor living still further from Perth, namely, a boy 
of 13 at Killin, gives the following amusing account of his experiences 
in search of knowledge:—“ Insessores or Perching Birds. I shall 
take as examples of this class the common Sparrow, Robin, and 
Blackbird, all of which I see in front of me, brought to a particular 
spot by some food which I have placed there, so that I might be 
better able to give my information at first hand. How provoking! 
some one in passing has disturbed them, and they have flown away 
to a tree. Well, now that I think of it, such an interruption to my 
nicely laid scheme is to my advantage after all, for I see by that that 
these birds are meant for a tree life. Here they are again, and now 
they are on the ground I see that they cannot walk, but move about 
with a series of little short hops. Now I have caught a Sparrow, and 
I see that it has three long, pointed, slender toes pointing forwards, 
and a short one pointing backwards. By this I see more clearly why 
it cannot walk and that these long slender toes are meant for grasping a 
branch or twig.” He then goes on to describe the mechanism by means 
of which the bird automatically takes a firm grasp of the branch when 
it crouches down, so that it cannot fall off even when asleep. 
The last passage I shall quote is from the essay by the Winner of 
the Bronze Medal, namely, James Hutton, Birnam, aged 13. He 
also chooses the Blackbird for special observation, and takes note of 
its habits as follows :—“ I saw a Blackbird along the Dunkeld Road 
