I'TARMIGAN IN S.W. SCOTLAND. 85 



Bargaly's somewhat supercilious reference to " the couimonalty " 

 and their name for the bird ! 



In the 'New Statistical Account ' (Kells Parish, 1844, p. 110) 

 it is stated, "Ptarmigan are extinct"; and again {op.cit., Cars- 

 phairn Parish, 18.14, p. 275), we find that "it is commonly said 

 that the last place in the South of Scotland which the Ptarmigan 

 frequented was Cairnsmuir. They have for some time, however, 

 been completely destroyed or banished." 



Dumfriesshire. The Lowthers and District. — On the Dum- 

 friesshire side of the Nith, traditions relating to Ptarmigan are by 

 no means so rife as in the Stewartry. I have not been able to 

 ascertain anything at all definite in the way of traditionary record. 

 It is pretty certain that the bulk of the stock of birds must have 

 gone much sooner than those in Galloway, leaving only a few 

 stragglers to linger into the present century. In the course of 

 quest for information on this subject it occurred to me to search 

 the old files of the local newspaper, the ' Dumfries and Galloway 

 Courier,' and I was very kindly permitted to do this by the 

 courtesy of the proprietor. I was aware that the late Mr. John 

 M'Diarmid, who was for about fifty years the editor, was inti- 

 mately acquainted with the denizens of all our mountains and 

 glens, and a naturalist of repute, as is abundantly testified by his 

 published ' Sketches from Nature,' and the constant references 

 made to the standard authors of that day, such as Pennant, 

 Latham, Lewin, Montagu, Willughby, Heysham, and Bewick, 

 when recording ornithological occurrences in the ' Courier.' I 

 mention these matters because had the late Mr. M'Diarmid been 

 an ordinary newspaper editor (I use the term with due reverence 

 for the Fourth Estate !) the paragraphs given below would not 

 have been entitled to any particular credence in a matter of this 

 kind. The first notice of Ptarmigan is in the 'Courier' for 

 August 26th, 1823, and I quote the entire paragraph: — 



" Natural History. — We have just seen and examined a very 

 beautiful bird, shot by Mr. Murray, of Broughton, on the 18th 

 current, and which appears to be quite a nondescript in ornith- 

 ology. The following is a correct description : — In size, form, 

 and weight, the same as a well grown grouse, with the roughness 

 of the feet and claws, and red fleshy ring above the eye, that 

 belong to that species. Plumage beautiful, and totally difi'erent. 

 Colour of the back and breast, a light brown, tinged with yellow; 



