226 BRITISH BIRDS. 



frequently unconvincing. About twenty years since, proof of 

 the nesting of the Lesser Whitethroat in Scotland began to be 

 called for, as suspicions were then excited regarding assertions 

 long current about its occurrence in many places. The 

 interval has only showTi it to be a casual on passage. Under 

 the very peculiar circumstances of this bird as a nesting- 

 species in Scotland, one egg out of five sent for verification, 

 leaves something to be desired as a reason for acceptance. 

 The Blackcaj) and Garden- Warblers present a bit of a tangle. 

 Thus, the former is said to be more abundant than the latter 

 although according to Jardine, in 1832, the latter was abundant 

 and the former had only aj^peared " within these few years," 

 and at the present day Mr. Laidlaw says, about the south of 

 Eskdale, that the Garden- Warbler is " very plentiful, "while 

 the Blackcap is " very rare." Mr. Service, however, says 

 that in most years the Blackcap " is decidedly more abundant 

 than the Garden- Warbler." If there be doubt from season to 

 season as to the relative numbers of these two species in Solway, 

 or if the Blackcap be the more abundant (which is possible), 

 then in either case Solway is in an interesting position of 

 isolation, as there is no doubt whatever about the Garden- 

 Warbler being abundant in "Clyde," "Forth" and 

 Perthshire, and outnumbering its congener in all of them. 

 The statement in Saunders's Manual that the Garden- Warbler 

 " has been recorded as nesting in Perthshire," conveys as 

 exact an impression as if one read in the same work of the 

 Nightingale that " it has been recorded as nesting in Surrey." 

 The Chifichaff is local in Dumfriesshire, but, according to Mr. 

 Service, is more frequent in Kirkcudbrightshire, and it is 

 notable that in May, 1897, several Glasgow ornithologists 

 found it to be quite common at Castle Kennedy, in WigtowTi- 

 shire. Within the Clyde area it is, in any numbers, a south- 

 western species, and in Solway appears to be a western species. 

 Mr. Gladstone seems conscious of the difficulty of working 

 up the Marsh-Tit's distribution. It is set down as " very 

 scarce and local." The account of the White Wagtail is 

 disappointing. No theory, however ingenious, about a change 

 of flight-line explains the absence of old records. Mr. Service, 

 who formerly opposed the idea of its being overlooked, has 

 published a recantation. The view that it has been overlooked 

 is the only one with any potentiality of growth in it, and it 

 appears to the present writer that the author might safely 

 assume that it passed through Solway in the time of the 

 Romans (and earlier), and that it will continue to do so 

 till the time of the Germans (and after) ! 



Regarding the Yellow Wagtail, one would like very partic- 



