ARM I STEAD : BIRDS OF SOLWAY DISTRICT 



73 



Ringdove. Columba palumbus. 



Generally dispersed, and common in wooded districts. 

 Stock Dove. Columba oenas. 



This bird I have found breeding on the Scotch side of the 

 Frith, an occurrence worth noting, as it is said only to have 

 bred in one other locality in Scotland. I have met with this 

 bird in Cumberland, but not so plentifully as in one locality on 

 the northern shore (see p. 293). 

 Rock Dove. Columba livia. 



Although I have been told this bird breeds with us and have 

 reason to believe it has done so, yet I have never seen a single 

 example, although I have looked for it frequently. Some of our 

 sea caves are full of pigeons that breed there, and are quite 

 wild, and these are called Rock Doves by the inhabitants, but 

 out of a score or more 1 have shot no two are alike in colour. 

 They are brown, white, buff, blue, &c, <Is:c., but no true Rock 

 Doves among them. 

 Pheasant. Phasianus colchicus. 



Plentiful in preserved districts where well wooded. 

 Partridge. Perdix cinerea. 



Generally dispersed, and common. 

 Quail. Coturnix communis. 



Rare, but breeds in the cultivated parts of the district 

 occasionally. I know one locality in Cumberland where I 

 remember it as common, and have seen several nests in a 

 season ; but being for a season or two much persecuted it has, I 

 believe, never regained its original numbers. 

 Virginian Quail. Ortyx virginianus. 



I have come across two instances in which this bird has been 

 shot, one at Allonby in Cumberland, and the other in Col vend, 

 Kirkcudbrightshire, both occurring about the same time. I 

 have ascertained that some of these birds were prior to this 

 turned out by the Duke of Buccleuch at Drumlanrig, in 

 Drumfriesshire, but whether this accounts for the individuals 

 shot will never be known. 

 Red Grouse. Lagopus scoticus. 



Common on moorlands and on some mosses that are preserved. 

 Black Grouse. Tetrao tetrix. 



Common in suitable localities. I have seen as many as sixty 

 to eighty of these birds together at times in winter. 

 Water Rail. Rallus aquaticus. 



Tolerably common in some localities, frequenting ditches and 

 sedgy places. 



March 1886. 



