22 Field Meetings. 



neither) known as Killochan Castle, were next inspected. It is 

 situated on a position of great natural strength ; the remains 

 of what appears to have been a ditch are quite visible on three 

 sides, and the fourth is formed by the almost precipitous 

 sides of the Glen. A field below Killochan farm house, where 

 drainage operations were being carried on, was next ex- 

 amined, At a depth of a few feet below the surface there 

 appeared to be an extensive deposit of boulder clay, and large 

 quantities of this had been thrown out in forming the drains. 

 The peculiar striae, denoting the grinding action of the ice 

 during the "Glacial Period," were very clearly seen on almost 

 all the stones that bad been exposed. A short walk further, 

 and the Gull Loch was reached — one of the great breeding 

 places of the Blackheaded Gulls (Larus ridibundus) which 

 at once resented the intrusion on their parental cares by 

 loud screaming and a copious use, no doubt, of very bad 

 (bird) language. It was certainly a pretty sight, so many 

 thousands of these beautiful birds all on the wing together, 

 while their incessant cries harmonised well with the rugged 

 nature of the surroundings. In walking round the loch the 

 nests were seen in great abundance, built of coarse grasses,and 

 placed a few inches above the surface of the water. Dozens 

 of nests containing eggs were seen within the space of a few 

 yards square. Dr Gilchrist, in a few remarks, stated that 

 the loch was, without doubt, formed by a glacier which had 

 descended from the sunounding hills till, filling up the hollow 

 of which the loch was the centre, it had flowed off in the 

 direction of the Glen Mills. Turning homewards, on coming 

 over the hill a magnificent prospect broke on the view. The 

 whole valley of Lowpt Nithsdale, with the town of Dumfries 

 in the centre, the Wamphray hills, with their snowclad sum- 

 mits gleaming in the rays of the afternoon sun, and away to 

 the south, part of the Solway Firth, the whole seen through 

 an atmosphere of singular clearness and purity, formed a 

 pictui'e of surpassing beauty, and one which will not fade 

 easily from the memory of those who were present. Leaving 

 the brow of the hill with some reluctance, the old quarry 



