26 Transactions. 



in winter than my specimen should have been procured in a 

 precisely similar manner. Mr Robert Gray, who had the other 

 specimen I speak of, stated " that the specimen was observed by 

 one of the boys at Merchiston School, near Edinburgh, on the 

 5th January (1878), and brought down by a stone from a catapult, 

 in the use of which these boys are certainly proficient, however 

 much they may be behind in other attainments." [^Zoologist, 

 Third Series, Vol. II., p. 221.] During the most of August some 

 very large flocks of Greenfinches were noticed in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of Dumfries. They remained for a few weeks, and 

 then left, and did not re-appear till the second week of January. 

 In the last week of September, the Meadow Pi[iits or Titlarks 

 were in extraordinary numbers here, and in walking through the 

 fields in the evening, one put them up in two's and three's at 

 almost every step. From the great numbers seen, I do not think 

 the birds of these two species could have been of local origin. 

 Snow Buntings were seen plentifully by the middle of October. 

 I refer to the large migratory flocks that visit us nearly every 

 wintei", not to the stragglers that have been seen in evcjry month 

 of the year on some of the highest of the Galloway hills, where it 

 is just possible they may yet be found breeding. For several 

 winters past, Snow Buntings have visited the Stewartry in great 

 numbers, frequenting the hillsides in open weather, and coming 

 down to the shore and the fields when snow covered the ground. 

 My friend and fellow member, Mr Tom Brown, Auchenhessnane, 

 writing on Dec. 6th, with reference to Snow Buntings seen by liim 

 on the wild tract of country between Wanlockhead and Crawford- 

 john, says : " On Sunday the ground was covered with snow, and 

 they gathered down from the hills, and collected together into 

 flocks containing several hundreds. On Monday the snow was 

 all gone, when the birds again scattered over the hills, in pairs 

 often, but generally in small parties." That is a very good 

 description of their behaviour in our district during the winter 

 months. About the beginning of November considerable numbei's 

 of the Bramblefinch, or " Cock o' the North" as they are locally 

 termed, made their appearance. These are oftener seen about the 

 woodlands than in the open fields. I exhibit a young male Great 

 Grey Shrike, which was caught on 1st December in a rather 

 singular way. It had flown at the call-birds of a birdcatcher, who 

 was plying his vocation on the Dalbeattie road, and in its endea- 



