Banffshire Field Club Transactions 1915-1924

Transactions OF THE BANFFSHIRE FIELD CLUB. THE STRATHMARTINE BanffshireTRUST Field Club The support of The Strathmartine Trust toward this publication is gratefully acknowledged. www.banffshirefieldclub.org.uk 58 operations during the War, and may con- gratulate itself on having produced an amount of work that will compare favourably with the average of former years. The report was adopted. Dr Mahood then delivered his retiring ad- dress— BIRDS OF BANFFSHIRE AND SPEYSIDE WITH NOTES ON THE NORTH-EAST FLY-LINE. Most of the places mentioned may he found on Bartholomew's Quarter Inch Map of Scot- land, Sheet 3 (Aberdeen arid the Grampians), or on the Half Inch Maps, Sheets 21 and 22. I made my first acquaintance with Banff- shire birds, while a school boy in Ireland, by reading the "Life of a Scottish Naturalist." I did not then anticipate that I should have the honour of presiding over the Banffshire Field Club, or have an opportunity of studying the local bird life. It is well known that men, closely tied to routine and wholly absorbed in work, lose the power of adapting themselves to the changed conditions of life which are entailed by ill- ness or retirement. The early cultivation of a hobby would do much to prevent this loss. The more strenuous a man's work, the greater the need of the relaxation afforded by a hobby: and the more useful does it become when leisure is attained. The study of bird-life is fascinating and never-ending. We can indulge in it at the fireside by reading books on birds, or observe their form, colour and many of their habits from our windows; or we can tramp miles along the shore, explore woods or climb mountains in pursuit of further knowledge and pleasure. It is only the beginning which deters many from enjoying this realm of Nature. Some start with large ideas, buy more books than they have time to read, and proceed but a short way. Others hesitate to try, because they cannot get books; forgetful of the Book of Nature which is within reach of most people. An eager student will rapidly gain a good working knowledge of birds if he cultivates his powers of observation, and forms the habit of writing notes directlv lie finds anything useful for his object. If the place and date are entered at the head of every record a carefully "kept notebook will Banffshirecontain information not obtainabl Fielde in printe dClub 59 books. A pair of good field glasses are more useful than a gun for studying bird-life as distinguished from collecting specimens. Birds! birds! ye are beautiful things, With your earth-treading feet and your cloud- clearing wings! Ye have nests on the mountains all rugged and stark, Te have nests in the forest all tangled and dark; Ye build and ye brood 'neath the cottager's eaves, And ye sleep on the sod 'mid the bonnie green leaves. Ye hide in the heather, ye lurk in the brake, Ye dive in the sweet flags that shadow the lake; Ye skim where the stream parts the orchard- decked land, Ye dance where the foam sweeps the desolate strand. Beautiful birds! ye come thickly around When the bud's on the branch and the snow's on the ground: Ye come when the richest of roses flush out, .And ye come when the yellow leaf eddies about! Birds. Cook. WORKERS OF THE PAST. In our Transactions for the 6th Nov. 1902 an interesting paper by Mr Harvie-Brown, on "The Vertibrate Fauna of Moray in the Future." described how the local study of birds should be conducted, and suggests a con- tinuation by the Society of similar work on the lines of his Deveron-Valley and its Bird- Life. 1897. I found quite a number of enthusiastic bird-lovers who kindly placed their stores of knowledge at my disposal; and working on the lines suggested by Mr Harvie-Browne. I have incorporated their notes with the results of my own observations on the birds of the district. Abstracts from some of the earlier Banffshirewritings on the subject havFielde been included toClub make the historical portion more complete. Among the workers, of the past mention should be made of the Rev. James Smith,* * Sometimes printed as the Rev. A[lexander] Smith in "Vertebrate Fauna of the Moray Basin." and in "The Deveron Valley and its Bird Life." 60 M.A., Sector of Banff Academy, who wrote a description of the local Zoology in 1836 for the New Statistical Account of Banff. Various articles by him were published in the Zoologist, 1847 to 1851, for which some material seems to have been obtained by Thomas Edward, who had settled in Banff in 1834. The latter began his natural history collection in 1838, and published a "List of the Birds of Banffshire " in the Zoologist in 1856, 1859 and 1860, also notices in the same Journal up to 1884, the Ibis, the Naturalist, and the Banffshire Journal. Many members of this Club remember their former Vice-President, and his ardent devotion to birds and beasties. The earlier edi- tions of Smiles' Life of a Scottish Naturalist contain a useful appendix with Edward's list of birds in abstract. The Rev. Dr Gordon, of Birnie, was one of the pioneers in the Natural History of Moray- shire. The best edition of his book was published in 1844. Interesting books on the Sport and Natural History of Morayshire and the Highlands were written by Hy. St John prior to 1854. The most important book, for those interested in the local fauna, is The Verte- brate Fauna of the Moray Basin, by J. A. Harvie-Brown and T. E. Buckley, 2 Vols., 1895. The Bill Birds of Scotland, by Seton Gordon (1915), contains an interesting description of the haunts and habits of the chief birds found amid the Cairngorm mountains. It is a valuable contribution to the study of the local birds. In many respects the best one volume book for the study of British birds is H. Saunders' Illustrated Manual of British Birds. Hudson's British Birds is the most useful of the smaller descriptive books; and Kirkman's British Birds (Jack's "People's Books") is a reliable pocket guide to the common birds of this country. Other books containing special features of interest are given in the Biblio- graphy. Limits and Features of the District. The distance which can be comfortably Banffshirecovered by motor trips froFieldm Banff include Clubs most of the watershed of the Deveron and Dart of that of the Spey; and extends from Peterhead and Loch of Strathbeg on the east to Elgin and Loch Spynie on the west. Hence the records for this paper have been obtained from portions of two faunal areas: the Northern part of the "Dee" area and the Eastern part of the Moray Basin area. 61 The physical features of the district vary greatly: from tidal rocks and sandy shores, grassy braes and rocky cliffs, through highly cultivated lowlands to extensive heath- covered moors and great mountain masses which culminate in Ben Macdhui (4296 feet). Many points of interest have arisen during the revision of the List of Local Birds, but the following remarks chiefly refer to some aspects of Bird Migration as seen in the North-Bast of Scotland* I am indebted, for several particulars, to a most interesting book by Dr W. Eagle Clarke: Studies in Bird Migration. MIGRATION. Various views on migration have been held in succeeding ages; yet the oldest writers had a clearer insight than those of later centuries. In Job the question is asked "Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?" The Greek poet Anacreon (560-478 B.C.), who, gives Egypt as one of the Swallow's winter retreats, thus describes its return: Once in each revolving year, Gentle bird! we find thee here; When nature wears her summer vest, Thou com'st to weave thy simple nest; But when the chilling winter lowers, Again thou seek'st the genial bowers Of Memphis, or the shores of Nile, Where sunny hours for ever smile. Carmen 33. Trans, by Moore. The author of the Iliad knew of the migrat- ing habit in birds, as he compares the mass movement of the Trojans to the migration- flight of Cranes: So when the inclement winters vex the plain With piercing frosts, or thick descending rain, To warmer seas the Cranes embodied fly. With noise and order through the midway sky. Iliad Bk. iii. Pope's Trans. There is a great contrast between the above Banffshirebeautiful pieces of natur e Fieldstudy and wha t Club was written in 1555 by Olaus Magnus, Arch- "bishop of Ùpsala— "Although memorable writers on many sub- jects of natural history have related that * The complete List will be issued as a Supplement to this year' Transactions. 62 Swallows change their abode, that is, seek warmer countries on being greatly pressed by winter, yet in Northern waters, by the chance of a fisherman, Swallows are often drawn out in a kind of rolled-up lump, which, when about to descend into the reeds after the beginning of autumn, have bound themselves together—mouth to mouth, wing to wing, foot to foot. ." The celebrated naturalists Linnaeus (1707- 1778) and Cuvier (1769-1832) were led astray by this fable; but John Hunter (1728-1793), the great surgeon and anatomist, disproved it by actual experiment. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), who so well re- flects the spirit of his time, is reported to have said that "Swallows certainly sleep all the winter.

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