44 
In this beautiful loch there are about fifty tame swans, and it is 
a sight of no ordinary interest to see the fleet of noble birds sail¬ 
ing together on the blue waters. Persons resident in the neigh¬ 
bourhood inform us that the winter visitants are much smaller in 
size, darker in colour, and much more active on the wing than 
the usual residents. Many of these are, of course, referable to 
the next species. 
Bewick’s Swan ( Cygnus BewicJcii). 
This species is sometimes recognised in lochs and ponds in 
severe winters, many of the birds being in the plumage of the 
first year. 
The Common Shelldrake ( Tadorna vulpanser). 
This showy and handsome bird is not uncommon in rabbit 
warrens on the coasts of both counties. It appears, however, to 
be more plentiful in Wigtownshire. We have obtained the eggs 
from near Garliestown. It also breeds in Kirkcudbrightshire. 
A number of pairs used to breed on the Horse Island, off Ardros- 
san, but of late years these have become reduced, on account of 
the frequent visits made to the locality by boating parties from 
the harbour, and this year (1869) only one pair has been 
observed. 
The Shoveler (Anas clypeata). 
Has occurred but in three instances in our district. A pair— 
male and female—were shot on the Cree, near Newton-Stewart, 
in the spring of 1865, by James Hamilton, keeper. Another was 
shot in the month of May, 1860, in a small burn on the farm of 
Drummuck, near Girvan, by a son of Mr Davidson, farmer there. 
The Gad wall (. Anas strep era). 
With the exception of a single specimen—a male—shot on the 
loch of Tarbolton a few years ago, we cannot trace the occurrence 
of this species anywhere in our district. It is, notwithstanding, 
a bird of tolerably wide distribution in western Scotland. 
The Pintail Duck (Anas acuta). 
Of occasional and uncertain appearance only; appearing singly, 
in most cases, on the larger streams and inland lochs. 
