Transactions. 61 



leave to more competent observers. I will be glad if the following 

 details, given as concisely as possible, are of sufficient interest to 

 sustam yonr attention for a short time : — 



Quadrupeds. 



About the quadrupeds not much is to be said. Squirrels were 

 all but exterminated, and since last December I have seen only 

 two. Hares and Rabbits suffered greatly, and fully a half of the 

 latter perished on some estates. On Mabie their skeletons could 

 have been picked uj) actually in hundreds. The Alpine or White 

 Hare was frequently seen in the upland districts during the storm. 

 The few Roe Deer of our district received a considerable accession 

 to their numbei-, and they committed much damage in the young 

 plantations. I saw one in January on the Larchhill which had 

 the hind quarters wholly white. All the Stoats I saw had without 

 exce^jtion " assumed the ermine," which is not always the case in 

 this locality. Otters had to emigx-ate to tidal waters, where their 

 tracks were often seen on the shores of the Solway and along the 

 side of the estuaries of the various i-ivers. They are but seldom 

 seen there in ordinary winters. Owing to the cold spx'ing, the 

 hybernation of Bats was unusually prolonged, and their general 

 absence throughout the summer was the subject of remark. 



Birds. 



Amongst the raptorial birds affected by the severe weather the 

 Merlin may be mentioned, which became quite common. A 

 fine Hen Harrier was seen on Auchencloy Moor by Mr Bruce 

 of Slogarie. It might be siipposed that the birds of prey would 

 be exempt from the prevailing distress amongst the feathered 

 tribes through want of food ; but, so far as my experience goes, 

 this was not the case in our district, for all the Hawks and Owls 

 that I examined during the winter were in a greatly emaciated 

 condition. I fovmd the skeleton of a Kestrel on Marthrown ; 

 but whether the bird had died of hunger or been shot I am 

 unable to say, although I could find no traces of shot marks on 

 any of the bones ; and if it had been shot, its head would have 

 been taken for the " Gamekeepei-'s Museum." 



The Common Dipper was a decidedly " uncommon " bird ere 

 the wnter had ran its course. More than two-thirds of them, 



