35 
The nest was found by a party of mowers while at work in a 
rye-grass field. Quails were abundant in some districts of Wig- 
townshire about seventy or eighty years ago. 
Oxps.—It may here be remarked, that in the Statistical Account 
of the parish of Maybole, published in 1836, the Great Bustard 
(Otis tarda) is mentioned in a list of the birds of that district 
prepared by Dr M‘Tyer. We have no means, however, of now 
proving the authenticity of this record. 
GRALLATORES. CHARADRIID. 
THE GOLDEN PLOVER (Charadrius pluvialis). 
Very abundant, and resident all the year, frequenting the moors 
in summer during the breeding season, and the sea-shore at low 
tide in winter. When the tide is full they repair to fallow grounds 
in the interior, sometimes travelling inland to a considerable 
distance. They seem to know instinctively at what hour to leave, 
so as to reach the coast when the rocks and sands are being 
exposed as the water recedes. On these occasions the flocks are 
immense, covering many acres of the shore, and sometimes 
packing so closely as to form a vast ornithological causeway. In 
the months of February and March, about the time when plovers 
partly assume their breeding plumage, Mr Anderson has seen 
flocks alighting in grass fields on Enoch Farm, and _ literally 
covering about eight or ten acres of ground. A noted haunt for 
this species in Ayrshire is the farm of Turnberry Warren, about 
five miles north of Girvan, where many thousands congregate in 
the pasture lands near the sea about the middle of July. 
THE Rincep PLovER (Charadrius hiaticula). 
One of the commonest shore birds from Ayr Heads to the Mull 
of Galloway wherever a stretch of sand occurs. Large migratory 
flocks appear to congregate on the shores of the Mull of Galloway 
in autumn. These flocks break up and disappear as winter 
approaches. 
THE SANDERLING (Calidris arenavia). 
About the beginning of August this species is found in con- 
siderable numbers on the shore near Girvan, but does not remain 
there longer than two or three weeks. We have repeatedly, and 
in some seasons invariably, found it in pairs, resting on the wet 
sand at low tide. 
