James Davidson FZS was a naturalist in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He was born at Maryhill near Glasgow and studied at Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

 and Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 Universities. He served in the Bombay Presidency

Bombay Presidency

The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...

 after entering the Indian Civil Services

Indian Civil Services

The Indian Civil Service , which after 1886 was officially called the Imperial Civil Service and was also known as the British India Civil Service, was the civil service of the Government of India in the period of the British Raj...

 and retired in 1897. During this time, he wrote extensively about the birds of the regions of present day North Kanara, Satara

Satara

Satara is a city located in the Satara District of Maharashtra state of India. The town is 2320 ft. above sea-level, near the confluence of the Krishna and its tributary river Venna. The city was the capital of the Maratha empire in the 17th century, hence one of the the historical cities of...

 and Belgaum

Belgaum

Belgaum is a city and a municipal corporation in Belgaum district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is the fourth largest city of the state of Karnataka, the first three being Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli-Dharwad....

, corresponding with Allan Octavian Hume

Allan Octavian Hume

Allan Octavian Hume was a civil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist in British India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement...

, to whom he gave his bird collection. He wrote numerous notes to Stray Feathers, the Journal started by Hume as well as to the journal of the Bombay Natural History Society

Bombay Natural History Society

The Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants, and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Many...

.

Publications

• Davidson,J (1886) Bird nesting on the ghats. JBNHS. 1(4):175-183.
• Davidson,J (1908) On the nesting habits of the Small Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata. JBNHS. 18(3):682-683.
• Davidson,J (1904) The eggs of the Small Sun-bird Arachnothera minima. JBNHS. 15(4):726.
• Davidson,J (1898) The birds of North Kanara. Part II. JBNHS. 12(1):43-72.
• Davidson,J (1898) The birds of North Kanara. JBNHS. 11(4):652-679.
• Davidson,J (1895) The birds of the Bombay Presidency. JBNHS. 9(4):488-489.
• Davidson,J (1891) Notes on nidification in Kanara. JBNHS. 6(3):331-340.
• Davidson,J (1874) Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 2(1,2&3):336.
• Davidson,J (1878) Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 7(1-2):172.
• Davidson,J (1879) Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 8(2-5):414.
• Davidson,J (1880) Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 9(1,2&3):236.
• Davidson,J (1882) Rough list of the birds of western Khandesh. Stray Feathers. 10(4):279-327.
• Davidson,J (1898) A short trip to Kashmir. Ibis, 7:41-42.
• Davidson,J (1885) Notes on the birds of Khandeish and Nasik. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Unpublished manuscript in BMNH archives, Tring, U.K.
• Davidson,J (1879) Letters to the Editor. Stray Feathers. 8(2-5):415-416.