256 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
seven ounces, was shot " out of a covey of three in the parish 
of Caerlaverock while winging its way along the bed of the 
Lochar." This occurrence is considered noteworthy, as 
being an early date and no frost at the time * Later the 
other two birds were shot on Green HiU of Caerlaverock 
and weighed eighteen and nineteen pounds respectively. f 
In the Neiv Statistical Account of Scotland it is stated that 
circa 1835 the swan " resorts to the lochs at Lochmabenin 
severe winters,"J and that the " wild swan (Cygnus ferus) is 
frequently shot in the Lochar Moss."§ From Dunscore 
it is recorded that ''in the winter of 1823, durmg a 
heavy fall of snow, a flock of Norwegian swans was seen m 
this parish, and one of them was caught in a drain on the 
estate of Allanton."|| 
The appearance of swans, then as now, depended upon the 
severity of the winter ; thus in 1838 we find the foUowmg 
statement : " Flocks of wild swans more or less numerous 
have been seen in almost every part of the county,"T[ but m 
1841 • "We are not aware of a single wild swan being seen 
this winter in the south of Scotland."** Sir WilUam Jardine 
writes of " The Hooper or Wild Swan " in 1843 : " We 
possess a fine specimen of one killed on the river Annan m 
our vicinity, and know that they have been shot on the Nith 
as high as Drumlanrig, and on some alpine lochs on the 
confines of Dumfriesshire and Selkirkshire, they are frequently 
to be met with in winter."tt A specimen is recorded in the 
Catalogue of the Birds contained in the collection of Sir William 
Jardine as obtained " near Dumfries." 
The following extract is worthy of note, if only as a record 
* Dumfries Courier, November 23rd, 1830. 
t Op. cit., November 30th, 1830. 
X New Stat. Acct. Scot., Vol. IV., p. 382. 
§ Op. cit.. Vol. IV., p. 444. 
II Op. cit.. Vol. IV., p. 337. 
^ Dumfries Courier, February 28th, 1838. 
** Op. cit, February 8th, 1841. 
++ Nat. Lib., 1843, Vol. XIV., p. 94. 
