122 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF OI.ASGOW. 



The Wigtownshire Choughs are, like their compatriots 

 elsewliere, m rapidly-diminishing number, and be- 

 yond question in their case this is the work of the 

 gun. At the present rate of destruction amongst 

 the few left, they cannot last above a year or two 

 longer. 



It seems rathei* singular that so fe^v local examples 

 of this bird should exist in a i^reserved state. I 

 know of one only — an old specimen in the Observa- 

 tory Museum in this town— which I believe was 

 obtained in Colvend about 1850 by a poacher, whose 

 various ndventures and law-breaking exploits are 

 still a frequent theme of conversation amongst the 

 country folks. There are probably other examples 

 of the bird locally obtained in existence, but they 

 are certainly of great rarity. The fine pair in the 

 Kirkcudbright Museum ^vere obtained in Islay. 



I will be very pleased should th's i:>aper elicit the 

 opinions of ornithologists in the West of Scotland, 

 which is now the headquarters of the Chough in our 

 islands, on the question of the knowai or probable 

 influences that threaten their total extinction at no 

 distant date. 



