BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 347 
in the parish of Middlebie, about forty years since. It is 
stated in 1885 that "fifteen years ago a pair frequented 
the fields near Barkerlands "* (Dumfries), while in 1873 a 
Quail was seen in the parish of Mouswald.f In 1877 
about fifteen Quail were imported from abroad and turned 
down near Sanquhar, but they soon disappeared, and a similar 
experiment at the same time to introduce the species at 
Drumlanrig also failed. Mr. J. Harkness informs me that 
he only once saw one in the flesh, and that it was shot 
near the Lochar (Torthorwald) by one of Colonel Salkeld's 
keepers about 1881. I am informed by Mr. John Dalzell 
that in 1883 he saw four, apparently two old and two young, 
on the Hoddom Estate. 
In the fine season of 1893 this species put in an appearance 
in unusual numbers. "They suddenly descended on all 
the fields of rye grass between Cumnock and Annan, and 
no one could understand what their pecuhar calls were, 
until the mowers discovered their nests."{ A pair were 
identified in a field near Amisfield Station (Tinwald), and 
shortly afterwards one was picked up on the railway line 
there that had apparently been killed by flying against the 
telegraph-wires. In some parts of Lochar Moss birds of 
this species were noticed, and others on a farm in Dunscore.§ 
Mr. R. Armstrong informs me that he heard them that 
year in the hayfields at Kirkbog (Closeburn), and Mr. John 
Corrie states that Glencairn was visited by a pair of 
these birds during the month of June. When first heard 
they were quartered in a rather bare pasture-field, but 
they subsequently settled down in a field of corn quite 
close to the village of Moniaive, and he adds : " Here they 
remained until the beginning of September. That they 
remamed to nest is almost certain, but harvest is late in 
Glencairn, and by the time a search for the nest was possible 
* Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, December 4th, 1885. 
t Field, 1893, Vol. LXXXII., p. 597. 
t Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, April 20th, 1905. 
§ Dumfries Courier and Herald, August 10th, 1893. 
