128 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Wren. On the 22nd a Lesser Kedpoll's nest at Kingmoor con- 

 tained four eggs ; a Reed Bunting had completed her clutch two 

 days earlier ; on the 28th the Willow Wren and Meadow Pipit 

 hoth had eggs. On the 18th m}' friend Mr. W. Duckworth — to 

 whom I am much indebted, both for the loan of his notes for 

 the year, which he kept simultaneously with mj^self, and for 

 much general information as to the district — had the good fortune 

 to meet with a flock of fully fifty Pied Flycatchers in the valley of 

 the Lowther, whence I believe Heysham first obtained the eggs 

 of this sj)ecies. From their fresh and bright ai^pearance, and 

 from the fact that the sexes were mixed, they had probably only 

 just arrived. Notes of former 3'ears show that they pair almost 

 immediately after arrival, and commence looking over their 

 breeding-holes. On this occasion, at 8.30 a.m., Mr. Duckworth 

 witnessed a fierce combat between two males. The 18tli is a 

 late date, however, for their arrival, as Mr. Duckworth has seen 

 them on the 7th of the month, and Heysham shot a pair on the 

 12th. This species, and also the Spotted Flycatcher, had fresh 

 eggs on June 19th, when clutches of the Common Sandpiper, 

 Stock Dove, Dipper, and Grey Wagtail were hard-sat. 



Here I may mention that though the Wryneck formerly 

 occurred in the district (cf. Yarrell, Brit. Birds, ii. p. 492) we 

 have no records of its being noticed locally for the last twenty 

 years. The last authenticated nest was obtained somewhere 

 about 1863 by Mr. Fell, who remembers shooting the parent 

 birds, which Mr. Heysham obtained from him with the nest. 



On June 25th Mr. Duckworth and I found young Sandpipers 

 on the Eden. One of the old birds crossed the river and perched on 

 a dead branch of an ash, from fifteen to twenty feet above the 

 bank ; there it contentedl}^ remained for twenty minutes, when 

 we left it perching as calmly as any finch could do. 



On July 2nd a pair of Red-backed Shrikes were seen near 

 Carlisle. Though established in the Lake District, Lonius 

 collurio has only once before bred near Carlisle, in the memory 

 of Messrs. Duckworth and other observers. On July 4th we 

 found four nests of the Lesser Redpoll in a hedge near Fling 

 Moor ; one which I took, with only two eggs, was largely com- 

 posed of fine fir twigs. On the previous day I had examined 

 a brood of young Grasshopper Warblers, easily recognised by 

 their spotted tongues. This species was not so plentiful in 1883 



