THE WADERS OF SOLWAY. 



51 



Woodcock (Scolopax rusticulaj. 

 During ray time there has always been plenty of Woodcocks' 

 nests, and I have seen and handled an egg of the species that 

 was taken near Loch Kindar so long ago as 1828. I have no 

 particular reason to think that they breed more abundantly now 

 than they have been in the habit of doing any time these last 

 fifty years. I have had the good fortune to see the young 

 carried by the parent bird. Tlie young was held betwixt the 

 feet and pressed up against the abdomen, and certainly not 

 hanging down the same as if held by a hawk, as we have seen 

 the^thfng painted by Wolf in a well-known picture. It is a 

 beautiful and interesting study to watch the old birds courting 

 as they flit about the oak trees in the April and May gloaming. 

 Like other places, we have the usual large influx of October 

 and November Woodcocks from abroad. It may be of interest 

 to note that, of late years, some Woodcocks bred in Northumber- 

 land, and marked there, were shot the following winter in 

 Wigtownshire. 



Great Snipe (Gallinago major). 

 The Great Snipe occurs only at long and uncertain intervals. 

 One was taken so long ago as 29th September, 1818, atBarnsoul 

 of Irongray. The late Gilbert Andei-son, Sen., in the course of 

 a lifetime on Glenlee, shot two— one of them in 1868, and 

 another in 1877. One was shot on Slogarie on 8th October, 

 1880, by Mr Bruce. Another was got on the neighbouring 

 estate of Hensol, 27th October, 1882. Then I can give the 

 record of two others, l)oth of which came to me in the flesh- 

 one was taken on 2nd October, 1896, the other on 28th 

 September, 1904, and lx)th occurred at neighbouring localities 

 near Crocketford. 



Very curiously all of the birds mentioned are from different 

 parts of Kirkcudbrightshire. So far as I know, there are no 

 actual records from either Dumfriesshire or Wigtownshire. 



Common Snipe (Gallinago ccelestis). 

 Although the haunts suitable for the Common Snipe have 

 greatly diminished, enough remain to make it still a most 

 familiar species. Very pleasant it is to hear its " tyik tyuck " 



