DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHIFF-CHAFF JN THE CLYDE AREA. 51 
Srreyincsuire.—The only locality in this county (in the part 
belonging to ‘‘ Clyde”) that I know of its occurrence in, is Garrel 
Glen, Kilsyth, where I saw and heard it in May, 1891. 
LANARKSHIRE.—As a Lanarkshire species, scarcely anything 
can be said about it. Mr. James 8. Dixon, in a letter addressed 
to the Glasgow Herald, dated from Bothwell, May 29, 1895, 
mentions it. ‘At present, at least half-a-dozen pairs [of Garden- 
warblers| are nesting in a wood [near Bothwell] formerly much 
frequented by the Chiff-chaff and Wood-wren, this season till now 
conspicuous by their absence.” When I asked Mr. Dixon 
regarding his knowledge of the Chiff-chaff’s occurrence at the 
locality in question, he qualified the statement above quoted by 
saying that the Chiffchaff was always a rare bird, much rarer 
than the Wood-wren. 
Mr. Dale, gardener at Aikenhead, on the western boundary, 
has heard it there, but not regularly ; and Mr. Joe Christie tells 
me he has heard it two or three miles east of Aikenhead. 
The facts above stated call for some remarks. The record, 
though marking a great advance in our knowledge of the dis- 
tribution of this species in the Clyde area, is still far from 
complete. Kintyre, Lochfyneside, the Island of Bute, and the 
Cowal district of Argyllshire, are yet to investigate. What may at 
first sight appear a curious fact is that when we go westwards, 
and especially south-westwards, from Glasgow to a wooded 
locality, we look confidently for the Chiff-chaff, and are seldom 
disappointed. When we go eastwards from the same centre, up 
the Clyde Valley, we do not expect to find it, Without claiming 
a satisfactory knowledge of the distribution of some of the 
warblers in “ Clyde,” east of Glasgow, I still know sufficient 
regarding the summer bird-life of that region to justify the opinion 
that it must be at least very uncommon. Many excursions to the 
Clyde between Glasgow and Uddingston, to Bothwell Castle, 
Blantyre Priory, Hamilton Palace, Cadzow, Dalzell, the orchard 
country, Lanark, and Douglasdale, have failed to yield a single 
instance of the occurrence of this species. The gentlemen who 
are associated with me in investigating the birds of the “Clyde 
_ area” have been similarly unfortunate in their excursions eastwards 
_ from Glasgow. Gray’s statement above quoted (ante p. 48), that 
