FROM A SOLWAY NOTEBOOK 67 



hairs near tip of tail, are white. The lips are fringed with pure 

 white. Mr. Peacock, farmer in Airds of Newabbey, tells me he 

 killed a family party of five perfectly black Water Voles in a potato 

 pit that he had occasion to uncover on nth November. 



PORPOISES (Phoccena com/minis}. This has been a great year 

 for these cetaceans in the Firth. The most remarkable visit they 

 made was during the week preceding 26th April, when during 

 every tide, many hundreds of these beasts were seen rolling inside 

 Southerness Point. What they were feeding upon was not ascertained, 

 so far as I know. 



ADDER (Pelias berus}. Major Threshie of Barnbarroch informed 

 me that on 6th July he dissected an adder that his gamekeeper had 

 killed. It contained three moles, none of which was quite full 



grown. 



LESSER REDPOLL (Linota rufescens). At one part of our nursery 

 grounds here, a small colony of Lesser Redpolls took up a location 

 in February. Remaining on, instead of departing when spring 

 advanced, they began to nest in May, and eventually reared about 

 a dozen broods. Instead of being placed in Birches, Alders, and 

 Honeysuckle as is their wont and plenty of these trees were close 

 at hand the nests were all built in thickly branched little spruces, 

 at heights from the ground varying from 4 to 9 feet. But the most 

 interesting point of all, was in the fact that every nest was thickly 

 lined with feathers. The down of the Willow catkins was plenti- 

 ful within 300 yards of the colony, all the nests of which were 

 within a radius of 120 yards. In the year 1879 we na d a perhaps 

 colder but not so wet a season, and in that spring I found the 

 nests of the Redpoll lined with feathers. In reference to my 

 observation of that year Mr. Harvie- Brown wrote " In northern 

 countries Norway and North Russia Redpoll's nests are very 

 commonly, if not invariably, lined with feathers. Were these additions 

 to the Redpoll population of Dumfries, birds crowded down from 

 more northern countries, bringing their nest-building instincts with 

 them ; or were they simply native birds adapting their nest building 

 to suit the unusually cold season?" ("Proceedings, Nat. Hist. Soc. 

 of Glasgow," vol. iv. p. 164). When watching these birds many a 

 time I repeated Mr. Harvie- Brown's question to myself. There was 

 no doubt in my mind that they appeared to be grayer, or more 

 mealy tinted, than usual, but, although not over-burdened with senti- 

 ment, I could not summon up enough courage to solve the question 

 by making some "specimens." The intention often was there, but 

 when I looked over the rim of the nests, or saw the birds sitting 

 within three or four feet so confidently, it evaporated. Another small 

 colony several miles distant, that I have known since boyhood, had 

 an odd feather or two in their nests, but nothing at all in the way 



