James Davidson FZS (1849-1925) was a naturalist in India. He was born at Maryhill near Glasgow and studied at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. He served in the Bombay Presidency after entering the Indian Civil Services and retired in 1897. During this time, he wrote extensively about the birds of the regions of present day Uttara Kannada, Satara and Belgaum, corresponding with Allan Octavian Hume, 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.