The Rarer Birds of the Solway Area. 429 



sequence of life in the salmon by proving that the pars were really 

 the young of salmon, who also introduced the roe deer into this 

 district, and tried unsuccessfully the introduction of the 

 ptarmigan, and was very successful in introducing the grayling. 

 The bird he shot was sent to Sir William Jardine, and is now 

 in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum. Strange to say, 

 no other specimen has ever occurred in any part of Europe, so 

 that we have here an unique distinction. 



The Roseate Tern is one of the prettiest of the species. 

 "While alive it shines with a brilliant gloss, and on the under 

 side there is a rosy tinge, which fades immediately after death. 

 It has been seen on Rough Island at the mouth of the Urr by 

 myself and others. 



The Grey Phalarope breeds far to the north, but as each 

 recurrent October or November comes round, if we have at the 

 time of migration a roaring north-western gale, we are certain to 

 find numbers round our coast. At that time they are absurdly 

 tame, and, if you happen to come on one in a little pool of water, 

 it is a pleasure to see how innocently it looks up without fear 

 ■of the human face. 



The Red-necked Phalarope visits the Solway with extreme 

 rarity, which is all the more curious as it breeds at two or three 

 stations along the Hebrides and in Shetland, so that it must 

 pass over this district, though it never seems to alight here. 



A few of the Great Snipe have occurred from time to time, 

 .and one instance occurred last autumn at the Brae, Lochrutton. 



The Black-tailed Godwit used to be a feature of the feasts in 

 the olden time, but is now rare in this country. A few have 

 been seen at the mouth of the Nith. 



Of the American Bittern we have only three records. 



Wild Swans are very interesting to the naturalist or lover of 

 wild life. Three of them are known here — two with certainty. 

 The whooper swan is seen when we have a sufficiently hard 

 -winter. It seldom comes before December, and those who hear 

 its curious trumpet-like calls as it passes, flying in the midst of a 

 ^ale or rising tempest, can never forget the feeling it engenders. 

 It is compared to the sound of a pack of hounds in the distance, 

 but there is something more weird and unearthly accompanying it 

 than the cry of the hounds. In Northern Germany and Russia it 

 is alwa\s said that these sounds are heard when the Demon 



