32 Addenda and Corrigenda. 



no doubt that the species of recent years has been turned doAvn 

 in increasing numbers, and that it has thriven exceedingly. 

 Personally, I am inclined to think that this increase has had 

 something to do with the general decrease of Blackgame and 

 Partridges locally. 1 have lately often been .shocked to see 

 Pheasants on ground which should belong exclusively to Red 

 Grouse. I flushed a cock and hen Pheasant near Langshaw- 

 burn (Eskdalemuir) in the spring of 1911 ; and have seen others 

 at Loch Ettrick (Closeburn), Loch Urr (Glencairn), Shinnel- 

 head (Tynron), and Polgowan (Penpont). What were these 

 birds doing there ? and if this species is going to take to the 

 moors will it not be detrimental to the Red Grouse ? These are 

 questions I cannot answer authoritatively ; but I know what I 

 think, and I strongly believe that Pheasants should be kept 

 strictly in their place, and not allowed to compete for existence 

 with our indigenous species. 



Females assuming the plumage of the male occur far more 

 often than is generally supposed. In the autumn and winter of 

 1910, I obtained specimens from Capenoch (Keir) and Auchen- 

 hessnane (Tynron). 



Pheasants are well known to stray widely from where they 

 are reared. Birds which were hand-reared and ringed at Cape- 

 noch were shot three and four miles from where they were 

 turned down. 



On December 3rd, 1910, I shot and winged a hen Phea- 

 sant, which took refuge in a rabbit hole. It was necessary to 

 dig down three feet before recovering it. 



THE QUAIL. Sir Emilius Laurie of Maxwelton tells me that 

 it was about 1870, and not in 1838, that he shot a Quail on 

 Braco farm (Keir). (p. 345.) 



A pair are said to have been seen near Braehead (Torthor- 

 wald) in July, 1910; but I was not able personally to verify this 

 report. 



THE LAND-RAIL. Two nests with eggs were found in 1910 

 on August 8th and 9th, in a hayfield, near Beattock (Kirk- 

 patrick-Juxta).i2 



12 Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1911, p. 145. 



