VOL. vm.] SUMMER RESIDENTS. 107 



the nature of the case it must be remembered that the 

 report can only cover a very hmited ground, and all 

 that has been attempted is to decide as briefly as possible 

 how far the conclusions arrived at last year are con- 

 firmed or modified by the additional information obtained 

 this year. Perhaps it is not too much to say that in 

 the case of ten out of the twelve species which are under 

 observation, the results obtained in 1913 and 1912 are 

 practically identical, while as regards the other two 

 species, the Swallow and House-Martin, though in a 

 few locahties they seem to be recovering the ground 

 lost in 1912, yet it would not be wise to base any very 

 definite conclusion on the evidence which is derived 

 from the returns. 



Red-backed Shrike. — The answers to query 3 are so 

 iew that it is impossible to decide whether this species 

 was present in average numbers in 1913 or no, but 

 there can be no reasonable doubt that it is decreasing. 

 It does not seem to be numerous anywhere, and where 

 an increase is reported it amounts to very little. It may 

 be noted that normal numbers always mean small 

 numbers, and attention is often drawn to the fact that 

 this species is slowly decreasing. The absence of this 

 bird is noted in three localities in Surrey, and in Essex, 

 a favourite county, two observers have failed to detect 

 a single bird of this species, while a third reports a 

 decrease of fifty per cent. 



The Spotted Flycatcher. — As far as can be judged 

 from the answers received to query 3, the Spotted Fly- 

 catcher seems to have been present in average numbers 

 in 1913. This species has a wide distribution and 

 appears to be holding its own almost everjrwhere. The 

 only counties from which distinct decreases were reported 

 were Devon, Cornwall and Wiltshire. 



The Chiffchaff. — ^As compared with the previous 

 year there seems httle change in the status of the 



