105 



notes communicated to him by Mr. Stewart, of the nesting of the Wryneck in the district of 

 Nether Lochaber, Inverness-shire. 



It has not been recorded from Iceland or Greenland ; but it has been obtained in the Faeroes 

 by Mr. H. C. Midler, who received it in 1865 and 1866 ; and Captain Feilden says tbat one was 

 found dead at Thorshavn on the 12th September, 1867. 



In Scandinavia it is tolerably common ; and, according to Mr. Collett, it breeds numerously 

 in the lowlands of Christiania and Hamar Stifts, and north of the fells as far as the Trondhjems 

 fiord, in 64° N. lat., being met with almost exclusively in the interior, and is very rare on the 

 coast, only having been observed near Bergen, Voss, and in the Lserdal. On the fells it is met 

 with in the upper part of the fir-region, as for instance at Hemsedalsfjeld and on the Dovre. 

 Professor Sundevall says that on the Swedish side it is common up to 60° N. lat., and occurs up 

 to 63° in Jemtland and Angermanland, or perhaps somewhat further north. It arrives in 

 Southern Sweden in April, and leaves again late in August. In Southern Finland it is tolerably 

 common, though nowhere numerous, and is not uncommon in the district of Kuopio, ranging 

 as far north as Kajana. In Russia it occurs as far north as Archangel, where, my collector 

 informs me, it is not very rare during the summer ; and Mr. Meves obtained it at Cholmogory. 

 Mr. Leonida Sabanaeff says that in Central Russia it is common, but rarer in the Government of 

 Jaroslaf, and still more so in that of Vologda. In the Ural he met with it numerous in the 

 birch-woods in the Government of Ekaterinbourg, and observed it in the Pavdinskaya dacha. 



Throughout the north of Germany it is generally distributed in suitable localities, but does 

 not go up into the mountains. I have seen it in various parts of Prussia and in the Rhine 

 provinces. It is stated by Kjserbolling to arrive in Denmark in April and leave in August, 

 being nowhere numerous, though generally distributed throughout the country. In Belgium, 

 Baron de Selys-Longchamps states, it occurs regularly during the two seasons of migration, and 

 breeds in the wooded districts on the right bank of the Meuse. In Holland it is somewhat 

 rare; but a few pairs breed here and there in suitable localities. In France it is common 

 throughout the country, and breeds in most of the provinces ; and Professor Barboza du Bocage 

 includes it in his list of the birds of Portugal as being common. In Spain it is numerous during 

 the seasons of passage, and breeds there, as Mr. Howard Saunders says (Ibis, 1871, p. 65) that 

 he found a nest near Aranjuez. In Italy it is numerous during the summer months, leaving 

 for the south in autumn ; and though some few remain in Sicily till the commencement of the 

 winter, the majority continue their journey towards the south. In the spring they pass again, 

 and few, if any, remain in Sicily to breed. Writing on the ornithology of Sardinia, Mr. A. B. 

 Brooke says (Ibis, 1873, p. 235), "I only on one occasion came across this bird during the 

 months of April, May, and the early part of June, although one would imagine numbers must 

 pass through' the island on their migration, as they are exceedingly numerous at that season 

 amongst the olive-groves along the Riviera. I think, however, the spring of 1871 must have 

 been an unfavourable one for migration, as I met very few species, and very few individuals of 

 each species, excepting the most common." Mr. C. A. Wright says (Ibis, 1864, p. 50) that it is 

 one of the earliest visitors to Malta in spring and autumn, and occasionally, but very rarely, it 

 is met with in the winter ; and Captain Feilden, writing to me from Malta, says, " it is a bird of 

 double passage with us, but, according to my observations, more abundant in the autumnal than 



