74 Transactions. 



sanguinary struggle had proceeded until one of the combatants 

 succumbed, a victim to the instinct of its kind. That richest 

 plumaged of British birds, the Kingfisher {Alcedo Ispidd) is rare. 

 The only place I have ever seen it is on the Cairn, in the vicinity 

 of Maxwelton. The Swallow [Ifirinido Ri/sfica), the Martin 

 {Hintndo Urbica), and the Sand Martin [Hirimdo Riparid) are all 

 common. A few Swifts {Cypseliis Apus) still nest with us, but it 

 is a rare bird compared with what it was at one time. A two- 

 storey thatched house which occupied a somewhat isolaied site in 

 our little town of Moniaive used to be a ftivourite nesting place, 

 but the house was pulled down some years ago, and the birds have 

 never returned in anything like the same numbers since. The 

 Night Jar {Caprimulgus Europceus) is said to nest in some of the 

 more remote nooks of the parish, but I never even saw the bird 

 personally until this summer, when a single bird was observed for 

 two nights in succession hawking for moths in my own garden. 

 The Ring Dove {Cohimba Palumbus) is abundant. This year I 

 found a Ring Dove's nest, containing young, placed in a hawthorn 

 tree at an elevation of not more than four feet from the ground, 

 and side by side with it a nest of the blackbird containing eggs. 

 The low elevation for a Ring Dove's nest and the companionship 

 appeared to me alike remarkable. The Pheasant {Phasianus 

 Colchiciis) is common, and the same may be said of the Black 

 Grouse {Tetrao Tetrix), the Red Grouse [Lagopus Scoticus), and 

 the Common Partridge {FedrLx Cinerea). The Golden 

 Plover {Charadrius Pluvialis) is met with on all our 

 hills. The Lapwing ( F^weZ/wj- Cristatiis) is plentiful. This bird, 

 as is well known, is a careful mother, and in the stirring days of 

 persecution her watchfulness against intrusion is said to have 

 often proved fatal to the lonely wanderers on the moors and fells. 

 The Heron {Ardea Cinerea) is not uncommon in the district, pro- 

 bably owing to the circumstance that we have an old-established 

 heronry at Craigmuie. The most of the trees were unfortunately 

 blown down during the gales of December, 1883, and January, 

 1884, and I am disposed to think there has been a marked diminu- 

 tion in the number of birds since. The Curlew {Nuinenuis Arqiiata) 

 is very common. The Common Red-Shank {Totanus Calidris) we 

 have recorded for one locality. Loch Urr, on the boundary line 

 between Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire, where a few pairs 

 annually come to breed. The Common Sand-Piper {Totanus 

 Hypoleuca) is met with along all our streams. The Wood- 



