COL. DRUMMOND HAY ON PERTHSHIRE BIRDS’ NESTS. I 45 
etc., make a large and elaborate nest. The Hobby generally chooses 
the deserted nest of a Crow or Magpie. Most of these are now 
represented in the Museum. 
It was in order to bring these facts regarding the nesting habits of 
our native birds prominently before the student and visitor that our 
late lamented President, Dr. Buchanan White, soon after the opening 
of the original building, in i88i, conceived the idea of forming a 
complete series of nests in addition to the collection of birds. At 
that date our knowledge of the Perthshire-breeding birds was much 
more imperfect than it is at present. But such as it was a printed 
list was drawn up and sent out, craving the help of the county pro¬ 
prietors and their gamekeepers. In response to this appeal many 
nests were sent in, the first being that of a Blackbird, with five eggs, 
from Dr. Buchanan White. In the year 1882 sixteen nests in all 
were received, which formed the nucleus of the present collection. 
It may be of interest to record what these were, namely:—Blackbird, 
Chaffinch, White-Throat, Hedge-Sparrow, Garden Warbler, Bullfinch, 
Willow-Wren, Yellow-Hammer, House-Sparrow, Corncraik, Wren, 
Water Hen, Sand-Martin, Coot, Greenfinch, and Lapwing. The 
following year was not so productive, but in 1884 and 1885, when 
intimation was made as to what was required, large additions were 
made to the collection, and special thanks are due to Sir Robert 
Menzies, whose keeper, Mr. John Macdonald, from his extensive 
knowledge of birds and their nesting places, proved of the greatest 
value in collecting both birds and nests. Several of the latter were 
obtained through him for the first time in Perthshire, as, for example, 
the Greenhawk, the Goosander, the Widgeon, and the Black-throated 
Diver. Our Thrushes were due to Colonel Smythe of Methven, at 
whose hands we have received nests of the Tufted Duck and the 
Pochard, both of which were new to Perthshire, although their 
occurrence had been suspected. During these two years we were 
also greatly indebted to three local collectors, namely, Mr. R. H. 
Meldrum of Cherrybank and Messrs. S. and G. Alexander, from 
whom we obtained many of our rarest ground nests. I must not for¬ 
get to mention also Mr. Herd of Scoonieburn and Mr. James Keay, 
head keeper at Murthly, both of whom have collected for us from the 
very beginning, and still continue to do so. The first named carried 
on the work under the sanction of the late and present proprietors of 
Moncreiffe. namely, the late Sir Thomas Moncreiffe, Bart., and Sir 
Robert Moncreiffe, Bart.; while Mr. Keay has worked under the 
sanction of the proprietors of Murthly, the late Sir Douglas Stewart, 
Bart., and Mr. Stewart Fotheringham. To these two collectors we 
are indebted for some ot our best and rarest specimens, including the 
nests of the Night Jar and the Red-breasted Merganser, the latter 
