BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
of fine marksmanship : " One evening last week [in March, 
1855] Mr. Beattie of Newbie was informed that a flock 
of wild swans was floating in the Solway opposite his own 
door. On going out he saw they were beyond ordinary 
range, and loaded with ball with which he succeeded in 
killing one of these splendid birds at a distance of two 
hundred yards."* 
A swan was shot some twenty-two miles from the sea on 
January 20th, 1857, by John Oliver, gamekeeper to Colonel 
Borthwick, at Raeburnfoot (Eskdalemuir), which " weighed 
19 lbs. and measured 4 feet from bill to tail, and 8 feet from 
tip to tip of wings, "t The length (four feet) of the specimen 
IS out of proportion with the weight and other measurement 
given. In March, 1868, " A wild white swan was shot near 
Browhouses, Gretna, by Mr. John Irving, flsherman. The 
bird is remarkably large in size, its length being 5 feet, the 
extension of its expanded wings 7 feet, and its weight 19 lbs. 
The swan has been sent to Mr. Plenderleath, stuffer, Long- 
town."t In the winter of 1879-1880 swans were unusually 
plentiful, particularly in December and January, and they 
were also recorded as seen in 1881-1882.§ Mr. R. Service 
informs me that he verified the identification of a Whooper 
shot at Kingholm (Dumfries) on the Nith in January, 1884. 
The man who shot it— an English workman— told him that 
when his wife dressed it for roasting, she used the whole of a 
big loaf in stuffing it. Mr. John Corrie of Moniaive states : 
" A pair of wild swans was shot in the district on December 
20th, 1893. They weighed 15 lbs. apiece and measured 
5 feet in length. This is the first time I have known these 
birds to occur in Glencairn."|| Mr. Corrie tells me that these 
birds were shot on the Cairn below Moniaive (i.e., some 
eighteen miles inland), and the man who shot them buried 
* Dumfries Courier, March 6th, 1855. 
t Op. cit., February 10th, 1857. 
t Op. cit., March 31st, 1868. 
§ Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, February 3rd, 1882. 
II Op. cit., February 16th, 1894. 
S 
