BIRDS 
ber 2nd, 1856. ‘It was killed by a farm ser- 
vant, and entered the collection of Mr. T. C. 
Heysham, at whose sale it was purchased by 
the late Mr. J. H. Gurney, who had it re- 
mounted by Ledbeater. His son, the present 
Mr. J. H. Gurney, most kindly exchanged 
this bird for an ivory gull which I had purchased 
at the sale of the late Sir William Jardine, 
Bart. The scoter is therefore preserved in 
the Carlisle Museum. It is an adult male in 
full plumage. 
163. Goosander. Mergus merganser, Linn. 
Locally, Gravel-Duck, Dun Diver. 
A winter visitant to our larger lakes and 
rivers, which it chiefly frequents during the 
coldest months of the year. The 29th of 
September is the earliest date upon which I 
have known this duck to arrive, nor does it 
usually delay its departure in spring beyond 
the month of March. I have never known 
it to occur between May and September. 
164. Red-breasted Merganser. 
rator, Linn. 
Locally, Saw-bill. 
A winter visitant to our tideways, of fairly 
common occurrence from October to April in 
sandy bays; but rarely met with inland. 
Odd birds postpone their departure in spring 
until the middle of May, and a brood of half- 
grown young ones appeared with their parents 
on the Waver in July, 1890. The only 
adult male in eclipse dress that I have ever 
seen in this faunal area was shot (with two 
females) on the Solway Firth about October 
ZIst, 1890. 
Mergus ser- 
165. Smew. Mergus albellus, Linn, - 
A rare winter visitant, the arrival of which 
usually synchronises with severe weather in 
the Gulf of Bothnia. It is by no means a 
lacustrine bird, at least I cannot recall a 
single specimen as having been shot on any 
of our larger lakes. Immature birds were 
shot near Carlisle in January, 1841 and 1848 ; 
between which date and 1880 seven speci- 
mens of different ages were killed in the 
county, most of them on the Eden. A hand- 
some drake was shot on the Lyne in Decem- 
ber, 1883; a bird in female dress was shot 
on the Waver on November 13th, 1889, 
having been winged when it first arrived on 
October 30th. Two old drakes and two 
females were shot near Carlisle in January, 
1891 ; I saw an immature or female bird at 
Monkhill Lough in the following February. 
An immature bird was shot, but lost, near 
Silloth in January, 1894; a female smew 
was shot on the Eden by R. Raine in the 
winter 1894-95. 
166. Ring-Dove or Wood-Pigeon. Columba 
palumbus, Linn. 
Locally, Cushat. 
A common resident, though the numbers 
of our home-bred birds are largely augmented 
by arrivals from abroad in early winter. A 
beautiful white bird, with yellow irides and 
purple-red feet, was brought to me at the 
Carlisle Museum by T. Peal, January 16th, 
1895. In November, 1887, my friend, Mr. 
F. W. Bailey, observed a pretty dove-coloured 
variety of the wood-pigeon consorting with a 
large number of its own species near Cum- 
mersdale. 
167. Stock-Dove. Columba cenas, Linn. 
Locally, Rock-Dove, Scotch Cushat, French 
Cushat, Blue Rock. 
A local resident in many situations, chiefly 
in old parks and on the wooded banks of 
rivers, but nesting likewise among the high 
rocks on our fells, and also among the 
rabbit-holes of the warrens near the coast. 
One nest at least has been found under a 
thick whin bush. The present species was 
not known to breed in the county during the 
first half of the nineteenth century. The late 
Tom Duckworth was the first naturalist to 
verify its breeding with us, which he accom- 
plished in 1861. 
168. Rock-Dove. 
An occasional visitor, reputed to breed in 
the cliffs at Sandwith, and likewise among 
the mountains of the Lake district ; it appears 
to visit us from the west of Scotland in small 
flocks, generally in winter. 
Columba livia, Gmelin. 
169. Turtle-Dove. Turtur communis, Selby. 
An occasional spring and autumn visitant 
of irregular occurrence. A pair of these doves 
nested near Scotby in 1885, and a second pair 
bred at Orton in 1889. In the former in- 
stance, the old birds had an egg in their nest 
on June 2nd. An immature bird was killed 
in September, 1897, the season at which 
most of our local specimens have been ob- 
tained ; but an old bird was killed in a turnip 
field near Drumburgh in the summer of 
1898. Strange to say, on December 21st 
or 22nd, 1894, an adult male was killed 
near Penrith, which I examined shortly after. 
It was in very good condition, although its 
occurrence in the north of England in mid- 
winter is remarkable. 
170. Pallas’s Sand-Grouse. Syrrhaptes para- 
doxus (Pallas). 
A rare visitant. The year 1863 witnessed 
a remarkable irruption of this sand-grouse into 
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