BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 277 
birdstuffer, Dumfries. * On returning home,' writes Sir 
William, ' I went to William Hastings, and got the bird from 
him, and it is now before me.' "* The date, 1863, is un- 
questionably erroneous, for W. G. Gibson's record was 
pubhshed in the June number of the Naturalist, 1858 ; 
and from the context it might be argued that the specimen 
was obtained in May of that year. 
The bird, as stated above, was stuffed by WiUiam 
Hastings, who subsequently parted with it to Sir WiUiam 
J ardine. Thence it passed into the Edinburgh Museum, and 
later into the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, where it 
may now be seen; and to the kindness of the authorities of 
this museum I am indebted for the photograph (reproduced 
in the accompanying plate) of this famous specimen. 
Local inquiries at this late date (1909) have failed to add 
any important details to its history. Mr. J. Reid tells me 
that he distinctly remembers seeing the bird in a recently 
stuffed state in Hastings' shop in 1858, and that he 
personally satisfied himself as to its identification by 
reference at the time to the description of the species in 
Wilson's American Ornithology. He cannot now remember 
any story regarding the specimen; but Mr. R. Service 
has a distinct recollection of being told by Hastings 
that it was sent to him by John Shaw, the head-game- 
keeper at Drumlanrig, with a note saying it was a Blue- 
winged Teal, which he had shot as it rose from a burn flowing 
into the Nith at a spot with which Hastings was well 
acquainted, as he had in former years been an under- 
gardener at Drumlanrig. 
The authenticity of this occurrence has been so generally 
accepted, that it seems almost unfair at this late date to 
bring forward anything which might cast any doubt upon it ; 
but it must be remarked that in none of his writings, pub- 
hshed or unpubKshed, does Sir WiUiam Jardine (as far as I 
know) refer to it, except in the letter to Robert Gray above 
quoted. This seems a remarkable omission, although it would 
* Birds of West Scotland, pp. 373, 374. 
