BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 333 
from the insults of the eagles which are in plenty."* In 1793 
it is reported from Sanquhar that " a covey, or rather part 
of a covey of Ptarmigans, among common grouse, a few 
years ago, was discovered upon the hills, which was 
considered a curiosity, "f 
In 1823 it is stated : "An individual in Sanquhar obtained 
last season no fewer than ten brace of Ptarmigans, which 
were eagerly purchased by stuffers and persons curious in 
ornithology."! At a later date from the same source we 
learn that during the tremendous snow-storm of 1822 " three 
or four brace of Ptarmigans were killed somewhere above 
Sanquhar, although the opinion had become prevalent that 
not one of these birds existed among the highest hills of 
Dumfriesshire. Some of the Ptarmigans were sent to our 
townsman Mr. Shanks to be stuffed. "§ The two records 
above, probably refer to the same incident, and the 
discrepancy between the numbers is remarkable. Mr. 
R. Service, who has dealt exhaustively with all that 
is known of this species in the Solway area, writes 
in 1887 : "I have failed to discover any trace of the 
person who captured the birds above Sanquhar ; but the 
gamekeeper at Wanlockhead, who has been fifty years a 
keeper in the district, says he had heard that some Ptarmi- 
gans in the Dumfries Museum were killed near Wanlockhead. 
The museum was established in 1835, but the catalogue of 
the contents, printed in 1843, does not mention any Ptarmi- 
gan. There were two old specimens in the museum, how- 
ever, that had been there for over forty years. It is a painful 
reflection to me to know that these were thrown on the 
rubbish-heap by myself three or four years ago, being then 
so much moth-eaten and moulded, owing to a long course of 
neglect, that they were hardly recognisable as Ptarmigans. 
* A Large Desc. of Galloway, p. 134. 
t Stat. Acct. Scot., Vol. VI., pp. 459, 460. 
{ Dumfries Courier, August 26th, 1823. 
§ Op. cit., February 21st, 1826. 
