106 THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND. 



A male Tufted Duck was shot a few years since on 

 a small pond near Allonby, in the middle of July. 

 {R. Mann in lit.) It is at the end of March and 

 the beginning of April, that fowl is most abundant 

 on the Solway, the birds collecting there before 

 journeying en masse to their breeding grounds. 



The following extract from Macpherson's note- 

 book refers to Monkhill : — 



"April 9th, 1885. Stealing silently along the 

 hedgerow, at length I reached the lough edge, and 

 squatting behind an old tree root, proceeded to take 

 a survey of the lough with my binoculars. Yonder, 

 in the shallows, a fleet of Black-headed Gulls in 

 nuptial garb are resting lazily ; nearer to me again, 

 are several pairs of wild Duck on the feed, the 

 drakes showing conspicuously their white under-tail 

 coverts, as they turn stern uppermost. In the 

 centre of the lough the noisy Coots are preening 

 themselves ; on the further side, but close in to 

 shore, are seven Tufted Ducks, and four Goldeneyes 

 are diving actively a little nearer to the mill. But 

 the Goldeneyes are up, and, sure enough, round 

 they swing, beating the air with their hard wing 

 quills. Are they going ofl' to Thurstanfield ? No ; 

 they pitch just in a line with my old trunk, showing 

 their white wing patches, as they settle on the 

 water. A Peewit shrieks : the Tufted Ducks are 

 off" now, and round the lough they hurry, showing 

 well, as they pass with necks outstretched, their 

 dark heads and silvered bellies. They are down ; 

 but not apparently to feed. Round and round 

 they paddle. From time to time a drake flaps his 



