9682 Birds. 



of family similarity in the songs of the redstart, whinchat and wheat- 

 ear; they are all soft, short and not much varied. I heard the sedge 

 warbler and the wood warbler in the dales. The willow wren is also 

 heard wherever there is a bit of shade. The reed warbler occurs 

 sparingly. The gold crest breeds here, and stays all the j'ear round. 



MolacillidoB. — The gray wagtail appears to be as con)nion as the 

 the pied one here ; I found it on the edges of all the streams : its 

 plumage seemed to me much brighter than that of the gray wagtail of 

 the level districts : it is a very vivacious and elegant bird ; it seems 

 to be a companion of the dipper, haunting the rocky, retired streams 

 and cascades ; it loves the sound of water, and to perch on a wet stone 

 where the spray of water falls. 



EniherizidcB. — I heard a single corn bunting at Settle. The yellow- 

 hammer is not very common. 



Fringillid(B. — The note of the common sparrow is never heard, 

 except in the towns or villages. My friend Mr. Ellison told me he 

 had occasionally shot the tree sparrow. 



Stur/iidee. — Starlings are everywhere abundant; every cliff and 

 building has its nest or nests ; when I saw them and heard them I no 

 longer wondered at the immense flocks swarming about our meadows 

 in autumn. Last year the gamekeeper at lugleborough shot a bird 

 from a flock of starlings, which, fiom his description, must have been 

 a rosecoloured pastor; he sold it to an amateur taxidermist before he 

 had time to ascertain its value; he described it as "a beautiful 

 starling." 



Corvid(B. — Rooks and crows are much persecuted on account of 

 their propensity for eggs : under the trees near a small rookery at 

 Malhani, 1 noticed the bones of a calf picked very clean ; I was assured 

 that rooks feed commonly on flesh, both in winter and summer. The 

 laven yet lingers and breeds on the wildest and most inaccessible 

 fells. Jackdaws are very numerous, nesting in the high clifis. Magpies 

 are frequent, and, in common with the rook and crow, are much 

 persecuted by the gamekeepers. 



H/tlcyonidce. — The kingfisher occurs sparingly; I saw one near 

 Ingleborough. 



Hirundiiiidce. — When T visited the celebrated Malham Cove* (May 

 22nd), swifts were there ; they nest in the highest parts. Martins build 

 under the ledges lower down, but they had not come. While the swifts 



* A concave, semicircular face of rock, nearly 300 feet in height, from under 

 which issues one of ihe fountains of the Aire. 



