A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 
to continue the search. On November 11th 
a wheatear appeared in a large field upon their 
farm, which perched on clods of earth like the 
common species, but did not appear to be as 
lively in its movements as that bird. Thomas 
Mann shot the little stranger, and his brother 
Richard posted it to me the same day. I 
showed it in the flesh to Mr. Howard Saun- 
ders, Mr. R. B. Sharpe, Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, 
Mr. J. E. Harting, and the late Mr. Seebohm, 
by whose concensus of opinion its identity was 
at once established. 
g. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.). 
Locally, Utick, Grass-chat, Wood-chat. 
A summer visitant of tolerably general dis- 
tribution as a breeding bird. It has a strong 
homing predilection, and will resort to a 
favourite nook for several successive sum- 
mers. ‘The sweet song of the male is chiefly 
uttered while the female is engaged in the 
duties of incubation. 
10. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.). 
A partial resident, which had recently re- 
covered from the diminution wrought in its 
numbers by severe seasons, but which the 
present hard winter (1899-1900) will again 
render scarce. Chiefly characteristic of our 
fell-sides, but breeding also in the vicinity of 
the coast. 
11. Redstart. Ruticilla pheenicurus (Linn.). 
Locally, Jenny Red-tail. 
A summer visitant, and one which often 
disputes the choice of nesting sites with the 
pied flycatcher, though much more generally 
distributed, especially among our gardens and 
wooded lonnings. 
12. Black Redstart. Ruticilla titys (Scopoli). 
A rare visitant, reported to have occurred 
in both spring and autumn. ‘The specimens 
which have come directly under my notice 
during the last seventeen years were secured in 
the month of November. The only black 
redstart which the late Mr. Tom Duckworth 
ever saw in his native county appeared at 
Home Head, Carlisle, in November, 1886. 
Similarly, the only black redstart which Mr. 
Mann and his brother have ever seen in their 
extended experience was an immature bird 
which Mr. Thomas Mann shot in a field at 
Aigle Gill, November gth, 1898. On No- 
vember 17th, 1899, I sent W. Nicol, jun., to 
search the foreshore between Silloth and Skin- 
burness. He found a solitary black redstart 
flitting about one of the jetties above tide- 
mark. It was very shy and difficult to ap- 
proach, but he succeeded in shooting it. I 
had it preserved for the Carlisle Museum. 
13. Redbreast. Erithacus rubecula (Linn.). 
A partial resident, numerously represented 
at almost every season, but nesting chiefly in 
our large woods and copses, from which it 
withdraws with the advance of autumn when 
numbers migrate. I have seen a hedgerow 
near the coast crowded with robins, apparently 
on migration, as early as September 5th. 
14. Whitethroat. Sylvia cinerea (Bechstein). 
Locally, Nanny Whitethroat, Peggy, Nettle- 
Creeper. 
A plentiful summer visitant, enlivening 
most of our hedges with its familiar notes. 
Mr. Mann shot a pretty cinnamon specimen 
in September, 1888, and a few years later a 
pure white specimen was brought to me. It 
had been captured on the banks of the Eden 
when in company with the parent birds. 
15. Lesser Whitethroat. Sy/viacurruca (Linn.). 
An exceedingly scarce summer visitant, un- 
known in the most exposed districts, and only 
met with exceptionally in sheltered situations, 
e.g. near Keswick and Carlisle. 
16. Blackcap. Sylvia atricapilla (Linn.). 
A summer visitant, but thinly distributed, 
and present in much smaller numbers than in 
the southern counties. Its delicious song sup- 
plies a special charm to the wooded ghylls in 
which it loves to find a summer home, preying 
upon the green caterpillars which infest the 
leaves of the oaks, until the elderberries hang 
in dark and tempting clusters, when the black- 
cap becomes frugivorous. ‘This warbler gene- 
rally leaves us in September; but, in 1898, 
Mr. T. Mann shot a fine male specimen on 
November 17th, a very late date, though not 
unprecedented. 
17. Garden-Warbler. 
stein). 
A summer visitant to the more wooded 
portions of our plain and valleys, but thinly 
distributed and very scarce in the immediate 
vicinity of the Solway Firth. Perhaps the 
retiring habits of this bird may cause it to be 
overlooked. Dr. Heysham considered it rare 
a hundred years ago, though he found it nest- 
ing at Carlisle in 1797. 
18. Goldcrest. Regulus cristatus, Koch. 
Locally, Miller’s Thumb (Alston). 
A fairly numerous resident in most wooded 
districts, the numbers of our home-bred birds 
being swelled in autumn by fresh arrivals from 
other parts. The goldcrest becomes strongly 
attached to particular spots. I knew of a tree 
in a garden at Rockliffe, which held the nest 
of a goldcrest for seven successive summers. 
Sylvia hortensis (Bech- 
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