298 THE HEN-HARRIER. 



1830-35, the Gleds forsook the neighbourhood. Mr. William 

 Allan, farmer, Bowshiel, who, in his youth, lived at Billie 

 Mains with his father,^ also stated to me that this bird 

 bred during his boyhood in the western part of Billie Mire, 

 where it was frequently seen skimming over the rushes 

 in search of prey. He recollects that the nest, which he 

 sometimes found amongst the bog-reeds of the marsh, 

 was piled up with sticks, the foundation being made 

 with thorns, and that he had to wade through water half- 

 way up his legs to get at it. Mr. Thomas Hewit, Auchen- 

 crow, has mentioned to me that his brother, who lived at 

 Auchencrow Mains, found a nest with young in Billie 

 Mire, on the east side of the road leading from Auchen- 

 crow to Causewaybank, and that one of the fledglings 

 was taken home and kept until it was full grown, when it 

 attacked some of Mr. Logan's^ chickens, and had to be 

 destroyed. He relates that the boys about Auchencrow 

 Mains, in his youth, used to visit the Mire on Sundays, to 

 search for the Gled's nest; and, on these occasions, they 

 provided themselves with long " leading-in " ropes from the 

 farm, which they tied round their waists before venturing 

 on the treacherous surface of the bog, giving the loose end 

 into the hands of some of their companions, who remained 

 on the firm ground at the side, ready to pull them out if 

 necessary. 



Although Billie Mire seems to have been the princi- 

 pal haunt of the Hen-Harrier in Berwickshire down to 

 about 1830, its eggs were then occasionally found in the 

 uplands of the county also, whilst on the Lammermuirs it 

 appears to have bred in considerable numbers, until a much 

 later date. Mr. Co we, Oldcastles, states that about 1820, 



1 Mr. Allan was born at Billie Mains about 1806, and lived there until 1827, 

 when he went to Bowshiel. 



2 Mr. Logan was tenant of Auchencrow Mains Farm. 



