THE QUAIL IN WIGTOWNSHIRE 169 



flushed in autumn, they generally flew away singly or in 

 pairs. In the winter months the birds were, as a rule, 

 dispersed singly. 



I have seen the nest twice in different years, on each 

 occasion during harvest (early September), on the same farm, 

 Springbank, in the parish of Leswalt. On each occasion the 

 nest was in a field of oats. These nests were very late ; as 

 I once flushed a brood of seven very small young, strong on 

 the wing, in an oat -field on the same farm in August of 

 1860 or 1861. 



Though the bird was undoubtedly a summer visitor, during 

 the years of its abundance in the district numbers remained 

 all the year, except perhaps during severe winters. In the 

 winter months they were often shot by sportsmen, and by 

 gamekeepers when after Partridges. I have seen a bird in 

 the end of December, and another (flushed near Stranraer) 

 well on in January. 



That the bird was common in the district in old times 

 is beyond dispute ; but it is most difficult to get information 

 as to its numbers. I shall accordingly content myself by 

 stating the result of information which I have obtained from 

 living witnesses. Old men who have resided in the district 

 all their lives concur in stating that the bird was quite 

 common and familiar from the earliest date to which their 

 recollections extend, down to the time of its disappearance. 

 But I have not been able to get particulars of the actual 

 numbers which were killed in suitable localities during a 

 day's sport, till about the year 1858. Mr. Skinner, who has 

 long been gamekeeper on the estate of Balgreggan, Stoney- 

 kirk, tells me that about that year it was possible to have shot 

 eight or ten brace in a day in certain suitable localities on that 

 estate ; that he had killed three or four brace in a day when 

 after Partridges, and refrained from shooting more, as they 

 were not then much valued ; and that the farms most 

 frequented were the Galdenocks, Freughs, and Mye. These 

 farms are contiguous, and lie at a low elevation, within two 

 or three miles of Luce Bay. Their soil is naturally dry and 

 sandy. Mr. John Martin, who was gamekeeper at Lochnaw 

 in the parish of Leswalt during the years of the quail's 

 abundance, states that the bird was regularly killed in 



