156 BIRD LIFE IN WILD WALES 



which I had not used. The nest, as I expected, was 

 empty, but I heard the Buzzards whistling somewhere 

 about the wood. 



On entering the Heron wood I saw a Magpie fly 

 from her nest in a small oak, and on climbing up I 

 found seven eggs in it. The other Buzzard's eyrie 

 here is also eggless, so certainly some one has had 

 them. Just after descending this tree I was attracted 

 by a male Pied Flycatcher, and in a curiously twisted 

 tree, hollowed down the centre for some distance, I 

 found his nest with one egg in it. What a beautiful 

 blue this species' eggs are, and how fragile! They are, 

 I think, perfectly indistinguishable from those of the 

 Redstart as a rule ; but not so the nests, for whereas 

 the latter always, or nearly always, uses feathers in the 

 lining of its home, the former never appears to do so. 

 Most of the nests belonging to Muscicapa atricapilla 

 that I have examined have been very loose and 

 untidy structures of dead leaves and dried grass, 

 sometimes with a little horsehair for lining, but I 

 have often seen them lined solely with the finer grass 

 stems. This Flycatcher is very anxious when its 

 nesting haunt is invaded, and a little patience will 

 generally reveal the secret. Continuing my way 

 through the wood, I soon saw two Owlets looking at 

 me from a very flat Crow's nest in an oak. I almost 

 expected to find that they were long-eared ones, but 

 on getting to the nest I at once saw that they were 

 Wood Owls. One was much larger than the other. 

 Some of the Herons are now hatched, and I see that 

 a pair of these fine birds have made for themselves a 

 nest on top of the Mag.'s nest on the outskirts of the 



