BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
455 
Mill (Dunscore) that a specimen had been obtained in that 
district " many years ago."* Mr. W. J. Maxwell informs 
me that " a fine specimen in full plumage, caught in the nets 
on the Kirkconnel side of the Nith near Glencaple in 1874, 
was given by the late Mr. Witham to Captain Maxwell of 
Terregles, but was destroyed by fire in 1904." The mention 
of this specimen here is, perhaps, hardly warrantable, except 
for the purpose of giving the full data of an occurrence 
of this species, hitherto vaguely reported as obtained " at 
the mouth of the Nith in 1875." A Great Northern Diver, 
shot on the Cairn on February 2nd, 1877, was exhibited 
at a meeting of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural 
History and Antiquarian Society by Mr. Rutherford, the 
same day.y On November 17th, 1881, a bird of this 
species (a young female) was shot by Mr. Irving Edgar in 
Castledykes Pool (Dumfries). J Mr. William Laidlaw informs 
me that one killed on January 18th, 1909, in a storm near 
Bailie Hill, about nine miles above Langholm, was sent for 
preservation to Mr. Law of Hawick. 
The Great Northern Diver is a western species breeding in 
North America, Greenland, and Iceland. In winter it is 
seen in Europe, on the Atlantic seaboard, in the Mediter- 
ranean and Black Seas, and on certain inland waters. 
Around the British shores, immature specimens are most 
frequently met with, except on the west, where adults 
are occasionally abundant. 
THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 
Colymbus arcticus, Linnaeus. 
An uncommon winter-visitor to the Solway. 
The Black-throated Diver is an irregular visitor to our 
shores in the later months of winter and on the 
* Grierson's MS. Notes, October 17th, 1862. 
t Trans. D. and O. Nat. Hist. Soc, February 2nd, 1877. 
t Op. cit, February 3rd, 1882. 
