334 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
I am convinced from inquiries made into their history, that 
they were really two of the birds captured near Sanquhar 
in 1822."* That these birds should have been obtained in 
the tremendous snow-storm of 1822 does not necessarily 
prove that at this time they were residents ; these individuals 
may have been forced down from more northern habitats 
by the unusually severe weather. 
H. A. Macpherson writes : " The remarks of Mr. Service 
regarding local specimens of Lagopus mutus in the Museum 
at Dumfries reminds me that one or more specimens exist 
in the Carhsle Museum. I therefore wrote to Mr. W. Duck- 
worth suggesting that the Carhsle birds were probably 
from Dumfriesshire, and asking him to refer to the Old 
Museum Catalogue, with a view, if possible, to trace their 
history. This he has kindly done, and finds that three 
specimens of L. mutus (two in summer and one in winter 
dress) were included in a series of birds presented many 
years ago by Mr. J. D. Murray of Murraythwaite, Dum- 
friesshire. In all probabihty these were local birds ; at least 
the presumption is favoured by the facts which Mr. 
Service has recently set forth in connection with his own 
district."t As regards these latter birds, Mr. W. Murray 
of Murraythwaite writes me in 1908 that his grand-father 
frequently shot in the north of Scotland, and it cannot 
be regarded as proof that these were locally-obtained speci- 
mens, simply because they were presented to the Carhsle 
Museum by a local gentleman. 
A hybrid between a Red Grouse and a Ptarmigan, stated 
to have been shot on August 18th, 1823, by Mr. Murray 
of Broughton,{ is said to have been obtained in Kirkcud- 
brightshire between Cally and Cairnsmore ; and therefore 
cannot, whether authentic or not, be claimed as a local 
specimen. 
John Lewars (the Exciseman, one of Burns' friends, and 
* Zoologist, 1887, pp. 81-89. 
t Op. ciL, 1887, p. 194. 
J Dumfries Courier, August 26th, 1823. 
