96 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
Perthshire collection. So much has been written and said ; 
by naturalists of the highest authority regarding the 
importance of restricting local museums to the local pro¬ 
ducts of the district, that it seems unnecessary to bring 
forward any arguments in defence of the scheme adopted 
by the Society. Having entirely in view the objects of 
making the Museum an instrument of education in natural I 
science, and at the same time of doing something, be it ever j 
so little, which will increase the sum total of human 
knowledge, the Society has followed the plan which seemed 
best adapted for carrying out these objects. Por the I 
purposes of this collection, the political boundaries of 
Perthshire are not at every point adhered to. To have 
done so, would have resulted in giving a false idea of the 
fauna, at least, of the district; therefore, the artificial 
boundaries have been overstepped in one or two directions, 
but the natural boundaries preserved. The chief over¬ 
stepping has been in including in the district the whole 
of the River Tay down to its mouth, and not stopping at 
the very artificial boundary line of the county at Inver- 
gowrie. This applies very especially to the birds. At the 
same time, most of the specimens have been derived from 
Perthshire proper. This part of the Museum is intended 
to show to the visiter specimens of every kind of animal, 
plant, and mineral that is to be found in the district; and 
at the same time to convey, by means of comprehensive 
labels, as much information about each specimen as possible. 
The present condition of the Perthshire Collection is as 
follows Mammals (or animals which suckle their young). 
The number of these in Perthshire is not large ; including 
the seals and cetaceans, or small whales, which occasionally 
visit the tidal parts of the river, they do not amount to more 
than about 35 species. Of these not many have as yet been 
obtained; and without widely-extended aid, as has been 
already pointed out in my report as Curator, a great many 
will be most difficult to get; and it can only be by the 
kind assistance of those proprietors who have the objects 
of the Society at heart, that we can hope to possess such 
species as the red-deer, the roe-deer, and other animals, 
only to be found in the woods, preserves, and deer forests 
of the county. This applies also to many of the birds, 
especially of the larger birds of prey frequenting the same 
places; and as these last, together with such animals as the 
wild-cat, martin-cat, pole-cat, and even the badger, are all 
now most difficult to find in the county from the great per¬ 
secution to which they have been subjected, I would most 
earnestly draw attention to the suggestions of the Zoologi¬ 
cal Committee, as already mentioned in the Curator’s 
report, that where stuffed specimens of these exist, as they 
most undoubtedly do, in many parts of the county (often 
in a neglected and uncared-for state), should the owners 
not feel inclined to present them to the Museum, 
they may be induced to lend them on deposit for such time 
as they may feel disposed. Every care will be taken of 
them, and the Society would thus be given the means of 
more certainly and speedily carrying out its objects, as 
already stated, of rendering the Museum a means of 
education in natural science. Any addition, therefore, 
in this way, may, it is hoped, be made in good time to 
admit of the specimens being properly arranged and 
classified, previous to the opening of the Museum. 
Birds. In collecting these, the Society, as reported, 
seems to have been more fortunate, and for the reason we 
have not far to go. Birds are more numerous, and certainly, 
to most people, more attractive than some of the smaller 
animals, or rather mammals; besides, being more generally 
brought to our notice in every-day life, they have become 
special favourites with all. Still much has to be done 
in this department also. Taking the basin of the Tay 
and its tributaries, from the source to the mouth, we 
have 150 species of regular occurrence, of which S6 are 
more or less resident, and 64 are of passage, the larger por¬ 
tion of the latter spending the summer for the purpose of 
rearing their young, the remainder passing the winter only 
with us. In addition, there are 41 which may be considered 
as only of occasional or accidental occurrence. This raises 
the list to 191 species, 125 of which are represented in the 
Society’s collection. Of several of these there are two, 
three, or more specimens, illustrative of sex, age, seasonal 
changes, or otherwise. These are arranged with labels 
descriptive of habit, food, and locality, with date, and name 
of donor. In drawing up the printed lists of vertebrate 
animals of Perthshire and basin of the Tay, to be service¬ 
able for labelling, it was thought advisable to include the 
names of such birds as in all probability will be found, 
when the fauna is more fully worked out, to visit the dis¬ 
trict, though their occurrence has not yet been sufficiently 
confirmed. This increases the number to 215, and with 
the view of showing at a glance the succession in which the 
several species come according to the classification, they 
will be numbered from 1 to 215, so as to point out any 
vacancy, or deficiency of a species, which will be at once 
indicated by the absence of the special number which be¬ 
longs to it. To carry out this effectually, each specimen, 
besides having the individual number of the species, will be 
lettered from A onwards, in the order they have been re¬ 
ceived, and so entered in a catalogue book, ready at hand, 
so that any visitor may at once find out any particular 
specimen he may be in search of, or ascertain whether it 
be in the collection or not. It is further purposed to draw 
