THE WADERS OF SOLWAY. 



49 



every confidence in saying ^-as a young one. The bird alighted 

 in the adjoining field, and I marked the spot, and, on running 

 up, found a young one, perhaps four days old, or less. Many 

 years before I had seen a similar incident, and the belief is very 

 general amongst country folks that Lapwings will, when any danger 

 threatens, remove their young to safe spots by carrying them. 

 The canying of their young must be a rare incident in the life of 

 the Lapwing or it must have been noticed. But how are we to 

 account for the certainly widespread belief of the rustic popula- 

 tion that it frequently does so 1 



TuENSTONE (Strepsilas interpres). 

 Not much of our shores is suitable for this species, conse- 

 quently it is, not so common with us as it is elsewhere. It 

 seems to be more abundant on both sides of Luce Bay than it 

 is anywhere else on our coast, while on many long stretches of 

 the Solway Firth it is either absent or very scarce. 



Oyster-Catchee (Htematopus otsiralecjus), 

 or as I prefer to call it, the Sea-Pie, is far and away the most 

 conspicuous bird of the flats of the Solway Firth. Flocks 

 extending along shore for nearly a mile in length may be seen 

 now and again in autumn, and the enormous numbers to be seen 

 in the course of an October day in the vicinity of Southerness 

 must be seen to be believed. One of our handsomest birds, in 

 its contrasted colours of red, black, and white, it is a favourite 

 with the shore gunner, but a tough one to bring down, and wary 

 as possible. It breeds in small numbers all round our shores, 

 doing so on the shell beds well within highest-water mark, con- 

 fident in the knowledge that the "bird tides" of May and June 

 will not flood it out of house and home, or up amongst the 

 buttercups and sea pinks of the merse banks, or high up beside 

 the rock roses on the grassy nooks of the cliffs. Many little 

 colonies nest on the islands, such as Rough Island, Hestan, the 

 Ross, and the Murray Isles in Fleet Bay. On the Annan and the 

 Nith and Dee occasional pairs nest far inland on gravel beds 

 and low meadows. In September and October single birds or 

 pairs, or sometimes small parties, are frequently seen on the 

 inland pasture fields far from the sea. I have a strong 



