BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 103 
sluggish streams running through or into Lochar Moss. 
Reports from many such locaHties throughout the county 
tell me that it is known as a nesting-species. Some of my 
informants regard it as solely a summer-visitant ; but 
many Reed-Buntings remain all the winter through ; escaping 
observation, since the black head is not very noticeable 
then. At this season they often consort with other species, 
and visit the stack-yards in search of food. As spring 
approaches these flocks break up, and the Reed-Buntings 
revisit their nesting-haunts in their more conspicuous 
breeding-plumage . 
THE SNOW-BUNTING. 
Plectrophenax nivalis (Linnaeus). 
Local names— Snow-Finch ; Snow-Flake ; Snow-Fleck. 
A common winter-visitant to the upland districts. 
In 1832 Sir William Jardine wrote that the Snow-Bunting 
" appears on the higher grounds in immense flocks during 
winter, and in severe weather visits the edges of the Annan 
feeding among the sand or gravel."* 
The distribution of this species over the county depends 
upon the severity of the winter ; in a mild season it will 
only be seen in the upper portions of the upland district, 
but after a heavy fall of snow it will be found "crowded 
down " to our very coast. Its numbers are similarly affected, 
and it is only in severe winters that it appears in large 
flocks. 
Early in December, 1882, Mr. Tom Brown wrote to 
Mr. R. Service from Auchanhessnane (altitude four to five 
hundred feet) as follows : "On Sunday the ground was 
covered with snow and the Snow-Buntings seemed to gather 
down from the hills, as we saw a flock of several hundreds, 
* New Stat. Acct. Scot., Vol. IV., p. 179. 
