282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the heather ; even the Red Grouse is scarce as a breeding bird 

 upon the moors which lie adjacent to the foreshores. The 

 numbers of the very Dunlins that nest in the tussocks of the 

 salt-marshes have grown fewer within our own recollection. 



But there is no material change in the numbers of migratory 

 birds which appear in the neighbourhood of the Firth at different 

 seasons of the year, and close study has enabled us to gauge of 

 their movements with greater accuracy than would have been 

 possible formerly. 



Ornithologists have their share of "hopes deferred," and the 

 writer has to own to many disappointments. Though it is 

 believed that Anthus cervinus has twice occurred in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Firth in spring plumage, no specimen has ever 

 been secured. A Black-throated Wheatear of some description 

 has visited the vicinity of the Solway Firth in three different 

 springs, but no final proof of its identity has been obtained. 

 Several other species are still excluded from the ornis of this 

 region, because their identification, in spite of much labour, is 

 still lacking. But the data at the disposal of the writer extend 

 over so long a period, that he feels justified in offering for con- 

 sideration the following observations : — 



1. The Absence, or exceptional Presence, of North American 

 Birds. — The arms of the Solway Firth extend in a south-westerly 

 direction into the Irish Sea, an area swept by heavy gales and 

 frequent hurricanes. It would not be unreasonable to expect 

 that such common Passerine forms as Tardus migratorius or 

 Loxia leucoptera might occasionally be transported by some 

 ocean liner to within a reasonable distance of the Firth, and be 

 driven ashore ; but the only species that have been reported to 

 the writer as captured at sea represented such familiar Palse- 

 arctic species as Fringilla ccelehs, F. montif ring ilia, or Turtur 

 communis. We cannot even claim that Triiiga maculata has 

 occurred within our precise limits, often as that bird has been 

 killed in Britain. Macroj'hamphus griseus and Tryngites rufe- 

 scens have occurred in single instances, but very far up the 

 Firth, and only in the month of September. Of the Anatidce, 

 (Edemia perspicillata has only once been obtained in the vicinity 

 of the Solway. Querquedula discors has once occurred in Dum- 

 friesshire, at no great distance from the Solway Firth. 



