150 ON THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 
annually in the beautiful woods near Ullswater ; but 
I was not aware, before the summer of 162%, that 
it is to be found in such abundance in that delight- 
ful locality. Subsequently I have discovered that this 
species is to be seen every summer sparingly dis- 
persed throughout the entire extent of the valley of 
the Conway, North Wales. 
For a long series of years a pair of Pied Fly- 
catchers had incubated their eggs and nurtured their 
young in security in a small aperture close by the 
portico to the principal entrance of my father’s resi- 
dence, Hendre House, Denbighshire, undisturbed, 
apparently, by the frequent passing and repassing of 
its inmates. The lively effect of the well-defined and 
strongly contrasted black-and-white plumage of the 
male, his short but pleasant song, and the confiding 
habits of both sexes rendered them objects of great 
interest to all the members of the family, who did 
not allow them to be molested on any pretext what- 
ever. Unfortunately, on the 18th of June, 1543, a 
swarm of bees discovered the aperture, which then 
contained a brood of nestlings nearly fledged, and 
by hurrying in and out of it and flying about the 
entrance in large numbers, seemed determined to 
dispossess the rightful owners. Whenever the parent 
birds attempted to approach the spot for the purpose 
of feeding their young, they were instantly attacked 
and repelled by the excited bees, from which they 
took refuge among the branches of an oak growing 
