Raptorial Birds of the Solway Area. 333 



he examined that had been shot in Dumfriesshire in 1840 " had a 

 great number of young feathers of a blackish brown colour, and 

 would have been entirely of that tint had the moult been com- 

 pleted." The current immigration, going on at present, promises 

 to be a remarkable one. So far as I have heard, a bird got near 

 Tarff, another on Auchencheyne, and a third shot on Glengaber, 

 are the only local occurrences yet, but they seem to have been 

 seen all over the British Islands, and quite abundantly along 

 the eastern seaboard. 



The Honey Buzzard. 



In the " Dumfries Courier " of June 11, 1833, I find a para- 

 graph which states : — " A specimen of that very rare and elegant 

 species, the Honey Buzzard, was shot last week at Drumlanrig. 

 The specimen has been added to the collection of Mr 

 Bushnan of this place." 



MacGillivray records the same bird. 



Mr Richard Bell of Castle O'er, in the course of a valuable 

 paper, entitled "Rare Birds in Eskdale," read at this table on 

 April 17, 1 90 1, stated that a Honey Buzzard was shot by his 

 brother in the year 1850. Robert Gray says, with reference to 

 probably only these two instances, that " specimens have been 

 shot in Dumfriesshire on several occasions." 



On 17th January, 1901, Mr Jardine, farmer in Waterside of 

 Troqueer, caught a very beautiful Honey Buzzard by the side of 

 his sheep fold in the dusk of a dark morning. It was kept 

 capti\e for three weeks, and died. I saw the bird, which was in 

 splendid feather and condition, and it was remarkably tame. It 

 is hard to give a reason for finding this bird here on a date when 

 it should have been away in Africa under the Tropic of Cancer. 

 Winter occurrences are not quite unknown in Britain, and, like 

 the Land Rail, the Blackcap Warbler, and some other migrants, 

 the Honey Buzzard may find no great difficulty in prolonging its 

 stay when circumstances are favourable. 



The Harriers 

 may fittingly be taken together, since none of the three is resident 

 with us now. The Marsh Harrier was probably always a rarity 

 in Solway. The older records treat it as such, and in my own 

 experience I have met with only one indi\'idual, and that was 

 from Kirkmichael on 7th May, 1898. On the other hand, the 



