NoreEs ON THE Brrps oF DUMFRIESSHIRE. 65 
list of Rooks killed in Dumfriesshire in 1911 under the aus- 
pices of the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association :— 
Number of birds 
Estate. killed. 
Auchen Castle ae oe of ae se 72 
Balgray, ete. ue Bt Me se co Ope) 
Burnfoot ah sat Ns beh he a 560 
Castlemilk 2 Bt: bat ae ik; ae 515 
Comlongon BA BS ae aut an 50 ONO) 
Dinwoodie aa ate a ve a ae 240 
Dumcerieff Aa oh si a a ae 400 
Gillesbie Se aie a8 tr ae ae 420 
Halleaths ae ae Bs a Ne an 676 
Hoddom ah ee Shs i eat ean 805 
Jardine ah: ae Ne an Ns Me 400 
Kinmount Be oe Ss a Ss sh 130 
Kirkwood a, Bee it ae tat .. 1200 
Mount Annan a ae Ne i oie 721 
Murraythwaite of as ee ye Se oO) 
Raehills Ae a bee oe wis Ae 107 
Wamphray .. Se So 5-0 i sa BED) 
Total se a6 20 ate, -. «949 
It is to be regretted that, since 1911, similar figures are 
not available. 
In 1921 Mr Sanderson published a letter!” urging co- 
operation in the destruction of local Rookeries, and gave it 
as his opinion that Rooks were increasing. Thanks to the © 
kind assistance of numerous correspondents throughout the 
county I have been able to prepare the following table show- 
ing the numerical strength of our Rookeries in 1921 as com- 
pared with the list I drew up in 1908. 
I cordially thank all those who have assisted me but, 
at the same time, I must point out that I have had very great 
difficulty in getting returns from certain parishes. There 
can be no doubt that the systematic harrying of the Rooks 
at their long established haunts has driven them elsewhere 
to nest and it is these newly-formed Rookeries which it is 
most diifcult to detect: the totals that I have given may 
therefore, I think, be regarded as a minimum rather than a 
120 Dumfries and Galloway Courier and Herald, 23rd March, 
1921. 
