164 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
one after another ; then they disappeared for a time, and 
they had them now just as plentiful as when he f^me to 
Sington."* Richard Bell of Castle O'er recorded m 1901 
Jh^ ^thin his remembrance a Kingfisher was -known - 
the river Esk, but now scarcely a season passed without one or 
to being seen, though no nest had ever b-n chscov-^^t 
Reports state that this species has nested on the NitH 
JCuhar, Morton, Closeburn, and Ki^-ho^ ; on 
Scaur Water in Keir; on the Annan m Moffat, St^Mungo 
Hoddom, and Annan ; on Kinnel Water (Lochmaben , on 
Kirtle Water (Kirkpatrick-Flemmg), and on the Esk m 
Canonbie The Kingfisher probably nests m many other 
Sies in the counfy, and in autumn and wmter becomes 
more generaUy distributed, at which season it is reported 
feom mtny streams in addition to those abeady mentioned 
Should the weather in winter become -ery .severe, so 
that rts favourite haunts are frozen over, tbe Kingfisher is 
found in unusual numbers at such places where they can 
stm ge a living. Of recent years this species has been seen 
n eSy autum'n in augmented numbers on the Nith and 
its immediate tributaries. In the hard winter of 1878-1879 
a reS^rkable increase in their numbers on that river was 
LtSd " They appeared commonly where one, or at most a 
TaS were previous^ to be met with at wide intervals. They 
Ep;eare'd for the'most part about the -^f e of D^cember^ 
when the frost became so exceedingly severe $ Under sucn 
riditionsthey are driven down to ^he cof a ^ ™ ^^^^ f ' 
wved bv Mr. Hugh Mackay m the wmter of 1894-1895.§ 
The fol owing interesting observation has been recorded 
bv £r T I Johnstone of Moffat : " One or two pairs 
Squcnted this neighbourhood in winter, but they neve 
stayed to breed till 1905. In that year, seeing a pair 
staying long past their usual time of departure, I looked 
» Trans. D. and 0. Nat. Hist. Soc., January 14th, 1898. 
t Op. cit., April 17th, 1901. 
J Op. cit.t November 7th, 1879. 
I Dumfries Courier and Herald, February 16th, 1895. 
