196 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



some years suspected it to nest in East Renfrewshire, but only 

 in May of the present year was the nesting confirmed by my friend 

 Mr Robert Wilson, who saw a female with a brood of small 

 ducklings on Harelaw Dam. He caught and examined one 

 or two of the young. That is all that I know definitely of the 

 Shoveler nesting in " Clyde," but I suspect it nests in several 

 other localities. East Dumbartonshire, South-West Stirling, and 

 North-West Lanark, where we see birds at the season when 

 they should be nesting. John Robertson, Glasgow. 



Shoveler Breeding in Solway. I have read, with much 

 interest, the paper on "The Shoveler as a Scottish Breeding 

 Species," in last number of the Scottish Naturalist. 



I think it is certainly remarkable, as regards Dumfriesshire, 

 that a young bird should have been brought for preservation 

 to the local bird-stuffer, from Kirkmahoe, ''early in August 1879" 

 {Birds of Dumfriesshire, p. 270). 



My notes, since 19 10, show that the bird is now frequently seen 

 locally in autumn and winter and Mr Maurice Portal informed 

 me that he shot a Shoveler near Torduff Point (Gretna) in August, 

 191 1, and that in July 1912 three young birds were seen there. 

 I cannot help feeling that Sir James Graham's duck breeding 

 experiments at Netherby may have done much to extend the 

 nesting range of ducks which were formerly only winter visitants 

 to Dumfriesshire. 



As regards Kirkcudbright, on 24th May 1913, I saw two pair 

 of Shovelers, each with nine young ones, at Genoch Sandhills 

 not far from Dunragit, Wigtownshire, and was told by the keeper 

 that these birds first came there to nest about 1906. Hugh S. 

 Gladstone, Capenoch, Dumfriesshire. 



[We are very grateful for the information sent us by Mr Robert- 

 son and Mr Gladstone. It is evident that various duck are still 

 on the increase as breeding species in Scotland, and when writing 

 these papers we hoped they would be the means of drawing out 

 additional records such as the above. These notes are valuable in 

 establishing the first dates of breeding, and will in future serve as 

 a standard for estimating the rate of increase (if any) of the duck 

 in question in the localities mentioned. At the same time we 

 cannot hold that the occurrence of young Shoveler in any locality 

 in August is proof of their having been bred there. E. V. B. and 

 L. J. R.] 



