76 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
River Cairn,* and Mr. Bruce Campbell reports them 
fairly common near Moffat in 1896-1897.t In 1903 this 
species was again noticed in numbers on the Caim near 
Dardarroch, and that part of Nithsdale would seem to 
possess a special attraction for these birds. The winter 
of 1905-1906 brought unusual quantities to the south ot 
Eskdale, and Mr. John Edmond tells «^e that he has 
seen Siskins m some autumns, so far afield as Wanlock- 
head (Sanquhar). j „„j 
The Siskin breeds in parts of Scotland and Ireland, and 
throughout Europe to the limit of conifer-growth; in 
winter it migrates south and has occurred in Morocco and 
Algeria. 
THE HOUSE-SPARROW. Passer domesticus (Linnaeus). 
Local names— Spetjg; Spyng; Spbttg; Spaeby. 
A very common resident. 
It has been stated of the House-Sparrow that there are 
many isolated spots in Scotland where it is very rare,$ 
and in our upland districts at many farms and cottages 
this species is not met with. Mr R. Service stated in 
1878 that at Wanlockhead (one thousand four hundred 
and nme feet above sea-level) a mining viUage on the 
borders of Dumfriesshire, the Sparrow was quite unknown.^ 
Mr. John Edmond, who has long been a resident at that 
remote spot, writes me : " In twenty-six years I have only 
once seen Sparrows in Wanlockhead. In the autumn of 
* Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, December 13th, 1901. 
■f Zoologist, 1898, p. 507. 
t Yarrell'B Hist. Brit. Birds, 1882, Vol. II., p. 94. 
§ Zoologist, 1878, p. 427. 
