NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 271 



catalogue may be regarded as somewhat fuller than can be ex- 

 pected from a more central district, or even seaboard counties 

 further north. 



The Solway Firth appears to lead some of the characteristic 

 birds of the south towards the east, and thus forms a kind of 

 barrier to their wanderings into Scotland by the shorter route of 

 crossing the water; thus even species swift of wing, such as the 

 black tern {Sterna nigra) and shoveller duck {Anas clypeata), 

 travel eastwards, tempted by the inviting shores of the Solway, 

 until they are gradually led through Eoxburghshire into Berwick- 

 shire, whence they speed northwards. We therefore find these birds 

 appearing much more frequently in East Lothian and Fife, especi- 

 ally in the vicinity of the rivers Tyne and Eden — these estuaries 

 being sufficient to arrest them for a time in the course of their 

 journey. The Euff {Machetes pugnax) is another example of the 

 influence of the Solway in arresting, or rather diverting the 

 direction of the flight of English birds. It is seldom or never 

 found in Wigtownshire or Ayrshire, while it is tolerably common in 

 the estuaries just named. We draw this inference advisedly, seeing 

 that two of the species at leaiSt which we have mentioned are at 

 times abundant in Lancashire. On the banks of the Ribble the 

 ruff is plentiful, while in most of the meres, as the patches of fresh 

 water there are called, the shoveller is equally numerous, as many 

 as a dozen or fifteen specimens having been sent to the Preston 

 bird stuffers in one day. 



As a post of observation for the migratory movements of birds 

 from the remoter districts of western Scotland, the Mull of Gallo- 

 way is, perhaps, not to be excelled. At the Lighthouse numerous 

 species appear at the time of setting out from our shores, and are 

 sometimes driven back by adverse winds. Even the Waders, 

 such as the knot and sandpiper, are caught on the lantern, 

 upwards of 300 feet above the sea level; and the ring ouzel and 

 gold-crest are likewise captured— the latter in great numbers. 

 In many of the woods near Newton-Stewart, and extending from 

 that westwards to the Rhinns of Galloway, very great flocks of 

 migratory species collect in the end of autumn, and appear to 

 wait a favourable opportunity of effecting a start. We have also 

 noticed that, in the south of Wigtownshire, early migrants, such 

 as the swift, sensibly increase in numbers as the time for their 

 migration approaches. Large flocks from the north may even be 



