154 
BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
its ready observation, but it is frequently flushed 
from clumps of bracken during Grouse shooting m August. 
As twilight falls it may be seen hawking for cockchafers 
on the wing, and the " churring " note of the male has a 
peculiar charm. At the breeding-season this species has 
been noticed to " clap its wings " after the manner of 
the Ring-Dove. It is to be regretted that Uvmg as it does 
entirely on insects it should ever be shot, though its some- 
what hawkhke flight often proves fatal to it. Its feathers 
are used for fly-dressing, but are so friable as to become 
worn and useless after only a few casts, so this excuse for 
its destruction should be disregarded. 
The Nightjar makes no nest, and the bird in Mr. JJ. 
Legard's photograph, here reproduced, was sittmg upon 
two eggs laid on a bare rock surrounded by a dense thicket 
of bracken. 
THE WRYNECK. lynx torquilla, Linnaeus. 
A very rare accidental visitor. 
Dr Burgess includes the Wryneck in a hst, dated 1791, 
of the " Rarer Species of Birds " to be found in the parish 
of Kirkmichael.* He has abeady been taken to task tor 
the inclusion in this list of the Pine-Grosbeak, and it 
is difficult to guess what bird he may have mistaken tor 
the Wryneck. But without upholding his statement, 1 
may perhaps draw attention to what H. A. Macpherson 
writes in 1892 of this species, as regards the neighbouring 
county of Cumberland : " The Wryneck affords an in- 
teresting example of the nearly complete disappearance ot 
a regular summer-visitant to Lakeland within the memory 
of a single generation. Dr. Heysham knew the species 
well, was familiar with its harsh cry, had taken a female on 
* Stat. Acct. Scot., Vol. I., p. 60. 
