Migrants Kingfishers 283 



way of the cat which shortly afterwards destroyed it ! A 

 single Coal Tit likewise there : many more Wagtails, both 

 Grey and Pied ; large flocks of Wood Pigeons flying near 

 the lake, fifty to a hundred birds in each, and with them 

 several Stock Doves. A single Dunlin, in winter plumage, 

 appeared on the side of the lake, and remained all alone till 

 5th April, after which it disappeared, no others having been 

 seen meanwhile. Dunlins were first met with, upon the 

 moors, on loth April. A number of Goldfinches have 

 returned during the last ten days, in pairs, and they are now 

 settled, and in song, in several places. Flocks of Golden 

 Plovers about, heard many times, at night, during last few 

 days. A pair of Golden-crested Wrens have apparently 

 decided to nest in some Douglas firs in a garden in the 

 village ; one has been occasionally seen there for a month 

 past. 



April $th. A bitterly cold morning, with heavy showers 

 of snow and hail, wind due north. The first Willow 

 Wren appeared, though it did not presume to sing in face 

 of such wintry weather. Two more next day, and many on 

 the 1 2th, after which they became general. Two Swallows, 

 also, to-day, much buffeted about by the storms of hail ; 

 likewise a dozen Sand Martins. 



6th. Ground covered with snow ; it melted in the 

 valley after the sun got out, but all the hills remained very 

 white. Several Swallows, but no Sand Martins visible, nor 

 did any reappear for several days. Wood Pigeons cooing ; 

 three female Wheatears arrived. A Crow mobbing a 

 Sparrow Hawk over the lake, and they circled upwards till 

 lost to view in the blue sky. When last visible, as mere 

 specks, the corby was still maintaining its most determined 

 attack. 



8M. Fine but cold, a bright sun, what little wind there 

 is still in the north. Stone flies (Perla bkaudata) coming 

 out in force, and the trout killed were full of them, and 

 their larvae. A Kingfisher seen on the Lliw ; they do not 

 winter here, but two or three pairs come to breed, the 

 Llafar being their favourite stream, owing to its more 

 suitable banks. One pair brought off a second brood there, 



