BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
173 
Year. 
First seen or 
heard. 
District. 
Source of 
Information. 
Remarks. 
1908 
1909 
1910 
April 29th 
April 23rd 
April 23rd 
Langholm 
Dumfries 
Langholm 
Mr AVillioTM 
. vv iiuam 
Laidlaw 
Mr. R. Service 
Mr. William 
Laidlaw 
Said to have been heard 
on April 9th, near 
Dumfries. 
Heard on April 15th, 
near Dumfries. 
THE BARN-OWL. Strix flammea, Linn^us. 
Local names— ScREECH-OwL ; White Owl. 
..." Let the screeching owl, 
A sacred bird be held ; protect her nest. 
Whether m neighbouring crag, within the reach 
Ot venturous boy, it hang, or in the rent 
Ut some old echoing tower, where her sad plaint 
The live long mght she moans, save when she skims 
Prowling along the ground, or through your bam 
Her nightly round performs." 
James Gbahame.— " Georgica (September). 
An uncommon local resident. 
The Barn-Owl has decreased in this county almost to 
vanishing point. During the first half of the nineteenth 
century, there is abundant proof that it was quite common if 
not the commonest of our four resident species of owls but 
all later observers remark on its decrease. In 1888 Robert 
MaxweJl told Mr. R. Service that it was becoming scarce 
in Kirkmahoe parish ; and in the same year Mr John 
Come spoke of this bird as uncommon in Glencairn, but 
said that It " nested tiUafew years ago at Hastings Hall "* 
(Momaive) In 1900 Mr. R. Service describes the species 
in the Solway area as " dying out for some unexplained 
* Trans. D. and O. Nat. Hist. Soc, November 10th. 1888. 
