PIED FLYCATCHER. 69 



the nest picturesquely placed in a rock near Inverkip, Renfrew- 

 shire, the little shelf being gracefully overhung with wild flowers. 

 The spot was secluded, and it would have been impossible to detect 

 the nest had the bird not betrayed herself; it was there in 1866 

 and again in 1868. Mr Alston has informed me that he once 

 observed a nest of the Grey Flycatcher on the ground at the root 

 of a tree. I took a nest three years ago from a tree in a park near 

 my house ; it was built of dirty straws, and placed in a fork about 

 fourteen feet from the ground. The outside was covered with 

 black sheep's wool, and on examination I found that there were 

 two black sheep in the park among a number of white ones the 

 wool of the former having evidently been chosen as a means of 

 better concealment for the nest, which would have been rather 

 conspicuous without the external covering. The structure, when 

 finished, harmonized wonderfully with the colour of the tree. 



THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 



MUSC1OAPA ATRICAPILLA. 



IN the eastern and midland counties it is not improbable that 

 this Flycatcher will yet be found in limited numbers. It has 

 not up to this time been traced farther west than Stirlingshire, 

 in which county, as I have been informed by Mr Brown, 

 three examples at least have been met with. It has likewise 

 been taken twice in Aberdeenshire, in 1845 and 1849, and 

 Mr Thomas Edward has sent me word of its occurrence also 

 in Banffshire. The late James Wilson mentions the species 

 in his " Voyage Round Scotland," a specimen, killed in Caith- 

 ness, having been seen by him in the collection of the late Mr 

 Sinclair of Wick. In addition to these instances, Dr Smith 

 of Edinburgh has kindly informed me that a male bird of this 

 species was shot by Mr Stevenson in a garden near Dunse, in the 

 first week of June, 1855, and that another male was seen in the 

 same place in June the following year. My friend, Mr W. Sin- 

 clair, whose drawings embellish this volume, has also informed 

 me that he saw one in May, 1867, in a garden at Dunbar, where 

 he watched it for some time. I have also the gratification of 

 recording the fact of the Pied Flycatcher breeding in Inverness- 

 shire, Mr E. S. Hargitt of London having obligingly sent me 



