MUSCICAPID,€. 



^59 



'/ ' 



THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 



MusciCAPA ATRiCAPiLLA, Linnceus. 



Although far less numerous than the preceding species, the Pied 

 Flycatcher is a regular visitor to Great Britain, arriving in the latter 

 part of April and returning southward in autumn. Large numbers 

 have sometimes been observed during the first week in May on the 

 Pentland Skerries, the Isle of May, and at Flamborough and Spurn in 

 Yorkshire ; while a return migration has been noticed in August and 

 September. During the breeding-season this is a very local species, 

 and although nests are said to have been found occasionally in some 

 of the southern counties, its favourite haunts are rather in the west 

 and north. In portions of Wales, such as Brecon, Carmarthen, 

 Merioneth and Denbigh, as well as in the English counties on the 

 Welsh border, it breeds annually ; also in Lancashire, some parts of 

 Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland ; but its head-quarters are 

 in Westmoreland and Cumberland, where it appears to be on the 

 increase. In Scotland this species is much rarer, but it has bred as 

 far north as Inverness-shire, and has often occurred in the Orkneys 



