362 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
1871 in which year, so Mr. James Anderson tells me, he saw 
one of these birds in May, on Queensberry (Closebum) when 
draining for the tenant of Locherben Farm. The bird was 
sitting apparently on its nest, but " looked sa« bonnie that 
I did na' fash wi' it." 
In 1876 Dumfriesshire is mentioned as a possible breedmg- 
plaee of this species,* and on July 18th, 1887, Mr R- 
wrote to the late Professor Newton : " Be the Dotterel 
nesting : The particular locaUty ... is just at the head 
of the Scaur Water, a tributary of the Nith and close to 
the western boundary of Dumfriesshire It was dis- 
covered last year by my friend Dr. Anstruther Davidson 
of Sanquhar, who was searching at the time for Golden 
Plovers' nests which along with the Ring Ouzel abound 
there He mentioned the matter to me and we agreed 
not to sav anything about it for another year This 
season the Doctor has been several times trymg to find the 
nest, with the assistance of the herds, but has failed. I saw 
him on Saturday, and he says he has no doubt from the 
behaviour of the birds when he was among them a few days 
ago, that thev have now young concealed among the moss 
hags They are on the top of Corriedow, a hiU of about 
1 600 feet ... Sir W. Jardine speaks of a locality five miles 
f^om Jardine HaU {B. of W. of Scotland, p. 256) which 
so far as I know is the only recorded mention of the species 
breeding m the S.W. of Scotland. It is very probable 
that the species breeds extremely sparingly all along the 
range of mountams from Moffat to Minnigaff (Kncnd- 
brightshire). In very kindly sendmg me the draft of this 
letter, Mr. R. Service wrote in 1908 : " Up to the present 
day I have never learned of any more precise location than 
the foregoing, as Dr. Davidson became reticent on the 
subiect." I wrote to Dr. Anstruther Davidson, who rephed 
that he had no more information to give as regards this 
species, beyond what he had stated in 1891, viz. : Mr. John 
Laurie, of Dalgonar, mentions having seen and shot tne 
» Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., 1876, Vol. IV., p. 115. 
