VOL. VI.] THE 1912 INQUIRY. 301 



It would seem to be generally on the decrease, and its 

 distribution is patchy, e.g. there are no returns from Norfolk 

 or Lines., while three observers from Suffolk report 

 an average, though a small one. It seems numerous nowhere. 

 Increases are reported from Epping (Essex) with the remark 

 " goes in years, one good to four bad ; " and Sunningdale 

 (Berks.) " four pairs 1911, six pairs 1912 " (G. F. Clarke), but 

 from the same place " scarce here as always " (J. G. Cornish). 

 In some cases the increase does not amount to much, e.g. from 

 the three following places : Kingham (Oxon.), Windermere 

 (Westmorland), Walton (near Stone, Staffs.), " one pair 

 compared with none in 1911 " ; Yateley (Hants.), " a slight 

 increase, but the species has been decreasing for years " 

 (Miss Stilwell). Sometimes an increase in one part of a 

 county can be set against a decrease in another, e.g. increase 

 at Beaulieu (Hants.) — four pairs bred in 1912, in 1911 one 

 (P. Gosse) — and at Hayling Island (Hants.) a " great decrease " 

 (J. E. H. Kelso) ; at Midhurst (Sussex) an increase (J. G. 

 Dalgleish), and at Horsham " a steady decrease — scarcely 

 a pan- since 1900 " (J. G. Millais). 



The decrease is not confined to one part of England, as 

 the following show : Tenterden (Kent) " fifty per cent, 

 decrease " (N. F. Ticehurst) ; Downton (Wilts.) .seven pairs 

 1911, two pairs 1912 (F. G. Penrose) ; Kingham (Oxon.) 

 "an increase, but 1912 far below the average" (W. Warde 

 Fowler); Abergavenny (Monmouth) " tVee pau's 1911, one 

 bird 1912 " (S. W. White) ; Shrewsbury (Salop) " decided 

 decrease " (H. E. Forrest) ; Shere (Surrey) " marked decrease " 

 (C. Russell). 



Spotted Flycatcher {Muscicapa s. striata). 



Increase 15. Decrease 40. Normal numbers 46. No returns 9. 



Judging by the answers received to query 3, the species 

 seems to have been present in average numbers in 1912. 



Decided increases are reported from Hever (Kent), 

 " greatly above average " (E. G. B. Meade- Waldo) ; Tenter- 

 den (Kent), " one pair 1910, tAvo pairs 1911, four pairs 

 1912 " (N. F. Ticehurst) ; Beaulieu (Hants.), " much above 

 the average " (P. Gosse); Lydiard Millicent (Wilts.), "none 

 1911, ten pairs 1912 " (D. P. Harrison); and four other observers 

 report that the bird is common in Wiltshire. An increase 

 is also announced from Hoddesdon (Herts.) and Cheltenham 

 (Gloucester). 



In some cases a decrease is only local, and there is often 

 an increase in an adjacent locality to set against it, e.g. in 



