284 The Scottish Natiwalist. 



this should be it is not easy to say, but such is the case; near 

 as is the Continent, it is rarely found in any part of it " (Gould's 

 *Brit. Birds,' vol. iii. p. 5). And Mr Cordeaux says that this 

 summer visitant in the Humber district is the most common and 

 least aquatic of any of the Wagtails ; and Mr Gray that the Oat- 

 ears, or Seed-ladies, as they are called in Lanarkshire, are very 

 common on their arrival in the month of April, dispersing them- 

 selves over a tolerably wide tract in the west of Scotland ; and 

 also that the Yellow Wagtail is to be found in like numbers as 

 far as Forfarshire. This being the case, it is curious that, though 

 I am intimately acquainted with this bird, I have never observed 

 it in Perthshire, or any of the neighbouring counties, where the 

 Grey Wagtail is abundant, and which, in its winter plumage, 

 might be mistaken for the other, both birds being of a brilliant 

 yellow. The Pied Fly-catcher, again, does not rest, says Mr 

 Gould, until it has reached the middle and northern counties 

 of England, where, according to Mr Heysham, in the ' Mag. 

 of Nat. History,' it is very plentiful in some parts of Westmore- 

 land. It occasionally visits Scotland, though sparingly ; and I\Ir 

 Gray records the fact of its having bred in Inverness-shire ; but 

 this bird I have never met in Perthshire, or any of our eastern 

 coasts. Other portions of summer visitants of regular migration 

 spread themselves throughout the whole length and breadth of 

 the land, but become more sparse as they approach the extreme 

 north. In the county of Perth we are favoured with about 

 twenty species of these, and in our own immediate neighbour- 

 hood round Perth are to be found the following, which I give 

 in rotation, much as I have observed them arrive : — 



1. Willow- Wren. 



2. Wheatear. 



3. Sand-Martin. 



4. Swallow. 



5. Blackcap. 



6. White-throat. 



7. House-Maitin. 



8. Sedge-waiLlcr. 



9. Wood-Wren. 



Though I am now speaking only of land-birds, to these might 

 be added the Common Sandpiper, arriving early in May, its 

 cheery piping note on the banks of all our lochs and streams 

 being so well known to all. The Ring-ouzel, or Hill Black- 

 bird, is a regular and early summer visitant, but confines itself to 

 more hilly parts of the county than the immediate vicinity of 



