COL. DRUMMOND HAY ON PERTHSHIRE PIRDS’ NESTS. 1 43 
We know also that the young of many of our foreign visitors 
leave our shores before their parents, and find their own way to 
winter quarters. What is the magic force which impels them; what 
the power which sustains and guides them on their first journey, 
through infinite space, to lands to them unknown? We may call it 
“ instinct,” or describe it by any other name we choose, but it still 
remains one of the great mysteries as yet unsolved by man. 
XIV .—Museum N'otes: On the Nesting Birds of Perthshire and 
the Bashi of the Pay. 
By the late Col. H. M. Drummond Hay, C.M.Z.S. 
(Communicated by the President, 9th April, 1896.) 
[Note. —-This paper, which was the last piece of work Col. Drummond Hay 
undertook, has been transcribed from rough jottings, put down, apparently from 
time to time, in a note-book. Had he lived, the material would no doubt have 
been put together in more eonsecutive form, but it has been thought best to print 
it pretty much as he left it, with only such verbal alterations as were necessary to 
make a connected narrative. His object in preparing the paper, as explained by 
him to the President not many weeks before his death, was to place on record how 
the collection of nests in the Museum had been brought together, and also how the 
nests had been prepared and mounted. He was particularly anxious to guard 
against the possibility of any one supposing that the “ surroundings ” had been 
selected in an artificial or unscientific manner. As a matter of fact, he took infinite 
pains to ensure that these surroundings were in all cases scientifically accurate. 
—Ed.'\ 
Bird Architecture is now, I am glad to find, receiving more 
attention than has hitherto been the case. This subject brings before 
us some of the greatest wonders in nature, which are only equalled in 
insect life. In the case of insect architecture, however, it must be 
borne in mind that the insect artificers are provided with special tools 
for the construction of their dwellings. The eggs, from the beauty 
and variety of their colour, have always proved to be a source of 
attraction, especially to our youth. How often do we see a nest 
ruthlessly torn down and cast aside, after its treasures have been 
robbed; no thought is bestowed on the time, labour, and skill of the 
architects, no consideration given to the love and devotion displayed 
in the many days of incessant toil and labour expended in anticipation 
for the progeny to come. If, however, the nest be carefully examined, 
we at once see its beauty and the wonders of its construction. It is, 
in fact, a perfect work of art, which cannot but call forth our extreme 
admiration. Consider, for instance, the great variety of nests in 
respect of form and the materials of which they are constructed, and 
