68 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



robin Castle. Last of all, Dr Saxby of Unst, in Shetland, has com- 

 municated to me the occurrence of a young male on the 5th 

 October, 1866, and informs me that the specimen, which was shot 

 by himself, is now in his possession. The circumstance of one 

 being obtained so late in the season in such a locality, leads to the 

 conjecture that in travelling southwards from a more northerly 

 habitat, it had been blown out of its course. There is a strong 

 probability, indeed, that nearly all the Scottish examples of 

 the species found north of the Forth are bewildered travellers 

 on their return journey. The Berwickshire and East Lothian 

 pairs, however, may legitimately be reckoned as instances of the 

 Red Backed Shrike extending its summer flight beyond its pre- 

 viously defined range. 



OBS. The Woodchat Shrike (L. Rufus) is included in Don's 

 list of the Birds of Forfarshire, but has never, so far as I am 

 aware, been noticed in Scotland by any subsequent observer. 



INSESSORES. MUSCICAPID^E. 



DENTIROSTRES. 



THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 



MUSCICAPA GRISOLA. 



THIS quiet inhabitant of woods and gardens is very generally 

 distributed. Of somewhat pensive habits, it is by no means an 

 obtrusive bird, yet it frequently startles the observer strolling 

 near its haunts by its sudden turnings while fluttering after a moth, 

 butterfly, or other insect, the snap of its mandibles being distinctly 

 heard on calm evenings, when few sounds are floating in the air. I 

 have seen a pair so employed as late as ten o'clock P.M., up to which 

 hour they were feeding their young ones. In the autumn months 

 I have likewise observed this Flycatcher perched in apparent 

 innocence on some fruit tree near a bed of dahlias, and snapping 

 up numbers of that beautiful insect, the red-admiral butterfly, 

 cleverly seizing the body lengthwise and dropping the splendid 

 wings, which twirled sadly in their death flight to the ground. 



In gardens, the nest of this bird is placed generally in the fork 

 of a fruit tree, and is seldom perfect as a structure one side, 

 chiefly the front, being thick and bulky, while the back resting 

 against the tree is merely lined with a few hairs. I have found 



