BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
Field, where Mr. Reginald Haines states that a Jack Snipe's 
nest and eggs had been taken in Dumfriesshire,* I made 
inquiries. In due course Dr. W. Bell kindly wrote me 
from New Brighton as follows : " It is now many years since 
I obtained the eggs of the Jack Snipe (to which you refer). 
It has, I know, always been a disputed question about its 
breeding in this country, although Yarrell speaks of it 
as breeding in Yorkshire. The egg I have was taken by a 
gamekeeper near Moffat, in Dumfriesshire, nearly fifty years 
ago, and I am told that the bird was flushed from its nest 
and was an undoubted Jack Snipe. I cannot give you any 
further information. I wish I could." In view of the fact 
that similar allegations from other parts of Great Britain, 
have on investigation, proved only to have been instances 
of the nesting of the Common Snipe, or of the Dunlin, 
I quote Dr. W. Bell's letter with all reserve. 
The Jack Snipe breeds in Scandinavia, north-west 
Russia and on the tundras of Siberia up to lat. 70° north ; 
over the rest of Europe it is a bird of passage and winter- 
visitant, at which season it also visits North Africa, Egypt 
and Abyssinia, while further east it is found in Japan, the 
Indian region, Persia and Turkestan. 
THE DUNLIN. Tringa alpina, Linnseus. 
Local names— Sea-lark ; Sea-Mouse ; Purre. 
A common resident species on the Solway shore ; but many individuals 
nest tar inland in spring. 
" Mabie Moss " records that Dunlin were seen on the gravel- 
beds of the Nith near Thornhill on May 14th ; and at least 
haK-a-dozen pairs, which were probably nesting, were seen at 
Townfoot Loch (Closeburn) on June 6th, 1891.f Mr. R. 
* Field, 1906, Vol. CVIII., p. 540. 
t Dumfries Courier and Herald, June 30th, 1891. 
