BY LAKES AND STREAMS. 121 



more or less commonly wherever there is open 

 water. 



Here in a few chosen localities by the water- 

 side in the grand old birch and alder copses 

 we may sometimes meet with the PIED FLY- Mountain- 



/ -n /r -77 \ r i ous districts 



CATCHER (Miiscicapa atricapilla), one of the j^j 168 ' 

 rarest and most local of our British birds. He England 

 cannot readily be confused with any other species ; Scotland. 

 his black upper plumage and white forehead and 

 lower parts render him easy to distinguish. His 

 black and white wings and tail are also very con- 

 spicuous during flight. The female is browner 

 generally, but the wings are enough to determine 

 the species. The Pied Flycatcher is a summer mi- 

 grant to this country, arriving in April and leaving 

 in September. Its habits are very similar to those 

 of the better known Spotted Flycatcher. It lives 

 on insects, catching them in the same way as 

 that bird ; but it differs considerably in the method 

 of its nidification. We rarely see the Pied Fly- 

 catcher far away from woods and coppices where 

 decayed trees are abundant, and in a hole of these 

 it usually rears its young. Sometimes it uses 

 a hole in a rock instead, just as the Redstart 

 will. The nest is well made of dry grass, moss, 

 wool, hair, and feathers, and the eggs, from 

 six to eight in number, are a beautiful pale 

 turquoise-blue without markings. 



Upon the banks of the mountain streams and 

 lakes we may always depend upon finding the 

 COMMON SANDPIPER ( Totamis hypo^icus] between widely 

 the months of April and September. Its upper commooest' 

 plumage is olive-brown, the underparts pure Derbyshire, 

 white, and a white band across the wings is very 

 conspicuous during flight. It is usually flushed 



