450 BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
were young, but the Razorbills, old birds ; and he counted 
over fifty lying dead on the shore in a ten minutes' walk.* 
Mr. R. Service writes in 1906 : " Since the end of July 
there has been one of the mysterious epidemics (?) running 
its course amongst the Solway Guillemots, and, to a lesser 
extent amongst the Razorbills too. Old and young have 
been equally affected, and many of the latter were mere 
chicks. All along the tide mark from about Auchencairn 
eastwards defunct individuals have been strewn in very 
large numbers, and up till mid-September this fatality seems 
to have been continuous. Since then it hardly appears 
to have been so bad. Such epidemics amongst these rock- 
birds have occurred occasionally, one of the most fatal 
having taken place in 1869. Some authorities attribute this 
widespread destruction of the birds to destitution following 
upon tempestuous weather ; others to starvation owing to 
absence of their food over the banks where they dive for it ; 
while most seem to favour the disease theory. It seems 
strange that no precise observations upon the cause of the 
mortality seem to have been made. AU the birds that I 
handled in August and September, cast ashore as described, 
were extremely emaciated, but in fine condition as to plumage. 
Their stomachs were always empty. Some few I caught ashore 
in a helpless condition. Many were noticed close inshore, 
within a stone's throw of the edge, and this was a most 
unusual place for these birds, in such shallow water as our 
firth."t Mr. Service writes me that after mature considera- 
tion he is of the opinion that the lack of some staple food, 
rather than an outbreak of an epidemic disease, is the 
cause of the periodical decimation of this and kindred species. 
On some occasions the Guillemot is found driven inland 
many miles from the sea. Thomas Maxwell told Dr. Grierson 
in 1862 that this species had once been seen at Friar's Carse 
Loch, J some twelve miles from the sea ; and Richard Bell 
* Naturalists' Journal, 1894, Vol. III., pp. 62, 63. 
t Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1907, p. 53. 
% Grierson's MS. Notes, October 17th, 1862. 
