222 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
The Cormorant is a regular visitor to Loch Urr, and has 
" even been seen within a few hundred yards of the 
village of Moniaive."* A specimen was shot at Jardmgton 
on the River Cluden by Mr. Rutherford in 1882,t and one 
was shot at Steilston Loch (Holywood) in October 1904. 
and another in August, 1907, both of which appeared to be 
voune birds of the year, so Mr. Shiels informs me. 
Dr Grierson records in his diary for 1862 that Thomas 
Maxwell told him that the Cormorant was seen on the Nith 
repeatedly ; and in the " Running Catalogue of the Contents 
of my Museum," the Doctor notes : " No. 567. Cormorant 
from the Nith near Thornhill, 1866." In 1871 there is 
the following record : " On several occasions one has been 
seen winging his way up the Nith."t A specimen shot on 
that river above Isle (Holywood) by Mr. T. Ranken on 
December 31st, 1908, disgorged a graylmg six ounces m 
weight. I ir- 1 
The Cormorant nests in the adjoining counties of Kirk- 
cudbrightshire and Wigtownshire, and though it is extreme y 
common on the shores of the Solway Firth from early 
autumn until the beginning of summer, its appearance 
inland is unusual ; except at, or on its way to and from, 
regular haunts like Loch Urr and the Loohmaben Lochs 
From the sedate way in which these birds sit at the edge 
of the ebbing tide they have been likened to " elders of the 
kirk " The Kirkcudbrightshire name of this species is 
Colvend (pronounced " Cow'en ") Elder, and in Wigtown- 
shire, Mochrum Elder ; and these names, derived in each 
case from parishes in the respective counties, are in common 
use among our fishermen and shore-shooters. Under certam 
atmospheric conditions the height of the birds with their 
reflections in the water, appears gigantic, and on sucn 
occasions they might be mistaken for human bemgs standing 
upright in the sea. 
* Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc., November 10th, 1888. 
■f Op. cit., February 2nd, 1883. 
% Dumfries Courier, December 19th, 1871. 
