728 APPENDIX. 



examined almost every sprig, and pecked the larvas of insects 

 from the bark. His flight was usually short and very rapid, 

 and many of his motions were like those of the Willow Wren. 

 I never observed him alight on the ground. As he continued 

 so long about the same place, I thought that the female was 

 then sitting upon her eggs. Being very anxious to discover 

 the nest, I searched for it very diligently. The attempt, how- 

 ever, proved unsuccessful. On Thursday the 27th I renewed 

 it, being assisted by a youth. For nearly six hours we examined 

 almost every spot in the neighbourhood, with the same bad 

 success. From seven in the morning until one o'clock in the 

 afternoon, he poured forth his delightful melody. On Wed- 

 nesday the Sd of July, a very warm day, the thermometer in 

 the shade being at 64°, I again went in search of him. To my 

 great grief, however, I was informed that for two days he had 

 neither been seen nor heard. On my return home, about four 

 o'clock in the afternoon, I met with my old friend singing in a 

 plantation, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile from his 

 former retreat. In this well-sheltered and sequestered spot his 

 continuance was but short, as in the course of two days he 

 took his departure from the neighbourhood. From his rest- 

 less disposition I have no doubt that he had not as yet paired, 

 and was in pursuit of a mate to console him in his retirement. 

 If the above observations be correct, they will not, at least in 

 this instance, favour the opinion of the celebrated Montagu, 

 who thought that the male of the migrative species never quits 

 the place he first resorts to, but attracts the females by his 

 song. On Tuesday the 9th of July, the thermometer 60°, and 

 the wind south, when I was in search of a kingfisher''s nest on 

 the banks of the Avon, in Kinniel Wood, I heard one singing 

 most melodiously. And on Tuesday afternoon, the 16th of 

 the same month, the thermometer 63°, the wind S.W., I heard 

 another near Carriber Mill, parish of Torphichen. As the 

 underwood was exceedingly thick, composed of the sloe and 

 bramble, I was unable to get within shot of him. The situa- 

 tions which the Blackcaps seem to prefer arc close thickets, and 

 woods very rank with underffrowth." 



