1 20 Trnnnnctinns. 



The Common Snipe is frequently started from the marshy ground, 

 taking its flight at first in a rapid, zigzag manner. This bird has 

 been called the heather bleater, from the remarkable noise fre- 

 quently made by the males when on the wing during the breed- 

 ing season, being considered like the bleating of an old goat. I 

 have seen it stated that it is not known how the noise is made, 

 but Macgillvray says it is made by the quivering of their wings. 

 They ascend higli in the air, wheeling round in circles, and fre- 

 quently descend for some distance very rapidly, and then ascend 

 again to make another descent. It is always during the descent 

 (which they perform with half-closed and apparently motionless 

 wings) that the noise is heard. The Curlew is abundant. There 

 was in 1884 what appeared to be an instance of a pair 

 of Curlews trying to remove their eggs because their nest 

 had been found. Tlie eggs were at some distance from the 

 nest, in a shallow drain, out of which the birds seemed to have 

 been unable to roll them. They were replaced in the nest, but 

 the parents never returned to it. The Land Hail is not very 

 common, and has decreased in numbers considerably within the 

 last few years. A few pairs of Moor Hens inhabit the streams. 

 The Wild Ducks are seldom seen, except when frost has sealed up 

 the lochs and rivers, when they take to the mountain springs. 

 The following are not known to nest in the parish : — The Pere- 

 grine Falcooi, seen only once. It appears that the Pied Flycatcher 

 has not been recorded from the south-west of Scotland until 1884. 

 On May 13th, by the side of the Scar, I heard a bird whose note 

 was not familiar to me, but resembled that of the Redstart. 

 It proved to be the Pied Flycatcher, a bird which could not, 

 from the conspicuous colour of the male, be in the district 

 without being observed. The pair built a nest, composed entirely 

 of withered grass, the finest being used as a lining, in a hole in 

 an alder tree, about 18 inches from the entrance, in which on 

 May 30th were six eggs of a paler blue than the Redstart's. One 

 was taken as a specimen, four were hatched, and the remaining 

 one contained a half-formed bird. The pair returned this season 

 to the same place, but only three eggs were laid. It is rather 

 strange that none of their young returned to the district. The 

 nest was on the Penpont side of the Scar, but once or twice the 

 birds were seen in our parish. The Rediovng and Fieldfare are 

 met with in considerable flocks. The former was about the first 

 bird to succumb during the winter of 1879-1880. The Stonechat 



