394 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
Armstrong writes me in 1908 that a few breed in Closeburn 
parish regularly. Richard Bell of Castle O'er states that a 
pair of these birds nested near Dumfedling (Eskdalemuir) 
in 1900, but that the eggs proved unfertile ; another pair 
were also seen in the vicinity * In the nesting-seasons of 
1908 and 1910 I heard the wild trilling note of these birds 
at Loch Urr, at the head of Glencairn parish. The above 
mentioned locahties are some twenty miles from the sea ; 
and the species may nest unnoticed in many other inland 
situations. It is remarkable that at these inland breeding- 
haunts eggs are seldom to be found before the first week in 
June; but those birds that nest near the shore breed a 
month earlier, and it has been observed that a week often 
elapses between the laying of two eggs. Mr. S. Chrystie in 
1881 notes the Dunlin as a breeding-species on Lochar Moss,t 
and it also nests in suitable locahties, from Caerlaverock 
eastwards along our coast. 
Howard Saunders writes : " The DunHn varies consider- 
ably in size, length of bill, and colour of plumage ; and even 
in the Palsearctic region there appear to be two races : a 
large and northern one of duller tints, and a smaller brighter 
bird to which Brehm applied the name T, schinziy% Both 
these forms are met with in this county, and it is believed 
by some, that the large race nests in far inland localities, 
while the smaller bird breeds nearer the coast. However 
this may be, in autumn and winter when these birds congre- 
gate on the Solway coast, both forms are frequently 
shot out of the same flock. The variation of the species, 
both in measurement and in seasonal and age-changes of 
plumage, is extensive, and formerly the " Purre " was 
considered a different bird ; it is now recognised that this 
name was giveii to the Dunlin in its winter-dress. 
In early autumn the inland nesting-haunts are deserted, 
and small " trips " of some three to six Dunlin may be seen 
* Trans. D. and G. Nat. Hist. Soc, April 17th, 1901. 
t Op. cit., December 4th, 1881. 
X Man. Brit. Birds, 1899, pp. 583, 584. 
