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NOTES— ORNITHOL OGY. 



Shoveller Nesting at Skipwith. — A pair of Shovellers (Spatula clypeata) 

 have nested this year at the disused brick-pit pond near Skipwith, where we shot 

 a single bird last September. The female and young were generally to be seen 

 on the pond, but the latter were taken one by one by a Pike, until by the 

 beginning of August only three were left. One of these was shot by the occupier 

 of the farm, and shown to me ; the others disappeared. — C. D. Ash, Skipwith 

 Vicarage, Selby, Sep. 22nd, 1896. 



Late Stay of the Swift at York.— I noticed a Swift (Cypselus aptis) this 



morning at 7 a.m., flying against the wind, namely, in a north-westerly direction. 

 Some five or six pairs resort annually to this street to rear their young, and I have 

 frequently seen them on the wing and busy hawking for insects at sunrise. They 

 arrived this year on the 9th May, and left August 14th, but I saw one in another 

 part of the city on the 21st August. — William Hewett, Howard Street, York, 

 September 24th, 1896. 



Flamborough Bird-Notes. — For several days we have had a great amount 

 of Wheatears (Saxicola ainanthe) ; they are in nearly every field as well as in the 

 lane leading up to the Lighthouse. There is not one Redstart {Ruticilla 

 phamicurtis) to be seen, and only one killed flying against the Lighthouse. 

 A few Whitethroats {Sylvia sylvia) and Pied Wagtails (Motacilla lugubris) have 

 also been observed. Mr. Hall, the Lighthouse keeper, informs me of a strange 

 bird flying against the Lighthouse* He says the size was only very small ; the 

 head and bill appeared to be one third, the neck and body another, and lastly the 

 tail. Large quantities of Sea Swallows, Kittiwakes, Skuas, and Gulls have been 

 seen on our coast and round the Headland. I am also glad to mention that I have 

 heard of a young Black Guillemot (Uria grylle) being bred in the cliffs at 

 FJamborough and seen by one of our fishermen. I hope it will get safely away. 

 — Matthew Bailey, Flamborough, September 14th, 1896. 



The Pied Flycatcher in Westmorland.— Muscicapa atricapilla has been 



numerous again this year in a circumscribed area. The immigration of the tribe 

 was singular and (apparently) protracted. I kept watch on a strip of woodland 

 where last year two broods were brought out in adjacent oak trees. On the 

 morning of April 21st a male bird had arrived in one of these trees, where he 

 was not only singing loudly and excitedly and with an unusual variety of notes, 

 but was popping in and out of the old nest-hole. No other bird of the species 

 was heard thereabouts. This state of things continued till the 25th, when the 

 bird's exuberant singing was checked, and only his low call-note revealed his 

 presence. In fact the hen had now arrived, and was already carrying stuff into 

 the hole, while he flitted round, absorbed and cautious. On that day another 

 male was first heard, half a mile awav : and a few more on the 2Qth. But it was 



in early May that the real swarm began to come m, waxing more numerous e*eij 

 day, and settling too thickly at certain spots for nest-room to be found. On the 

 13th I saw three mating males sparring at each other jealously at a station which 

 <I believe) none of them managed to maintain; for the hole in a sycamore 

 then taken possession of by one was subsequently seized by Starlings, who 

 reared a brood in it By the 15th of the month Pied Flycatchers were literally 

 singing everywhere round. Even from a druggist's shop in the centre or 

 Ambleside, the well-known note was to be heard, and the bird was found 

 stationed in the garden of the Salutation Inn, through which the Stock flows. 

 Again another was singing on a knoll by the town, where a row of cottage* 

 was in progress. Most of these singers drifted away, of course, but still *■■** 

 proportion of nesters remained. The earlier broods were led out by the middle 

 of June. In one nest in a sycamore tree feeding was continued (after, I think, 

 the stronger part of the brood was flown) until June 24th. As early as the 

 26th of June I had my last sight (and a very pretty one) of the tribe— a hen 

 feeding her three still helpless young ones, cruddled all together on a hign 

 oak-tree bough. Nesting over, the birds seemed as usual to vanish 

 Mary L. Armitt, Rydal Cottage, Ambleside, August 13th, 1896. 



Naturalist 



