422 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



that it is tolerably plentiful in certain localities in his neighbour- 

 hood, and that several nests have been found. 



Montgomeryshire. — Mr. C. H. L. Ewen writes to say that 

 in 1888 or '89 he found two of its nests, in holes of trees, — one 

 in a birch and the other in an oak — close to the river Cowny, 

 about one mile and a half south of Lake Vyrnwy ; and that he 

 saw at least three pairs of these birds, which he generally 

 discovered by hearing their song. A friend of Mr. E wen's, who 

 was with him when the nests were found, writes to say that each 

 contained six eggs, and that he has often seen this bird in the 

 county. A letter in * The Field' of Oct. 15th, 1892, from 

 Mr. Alfred George, states that he has twice noted it near Meifod 

 in twenty-six years, and that on one occasion the nest was found. 



Cardiganshire, — Capt. G. Weir Cosens, Bronpadarn, near 

 Aberystwith, writes to me as follows : — " A Pied Flycatcher was 

 shot in my garden at Cwm, about two miles from Aberystwith, 

 by my gardener, in June, 1877, and was brought to me a few 

 minutes after, when I stuffed it, and it is now in my collection ; it 

 was a male and in perfect plumage." He adds that he has never 

 heard of any other instance of its occurrence in the county. 



Radnorshire. — Mr. C. Bingham Newland, Killetra, Mallow, 

 informs me by letter that : — " The Pied Flycatcher is not 

 uncommon in the woods, and on the banks of the rivers Elan 

 and Claerven, in the neighbourhood of Nantgwyllt, five miles 

 from Rhayader. In these woods there are a great number of 

 very old pollard oak trees, hollow and full of holes, in which 

 I have found the nest of this bird ; and I am strongly of opinion 

 that it is these trees that attract it to this locality, for the 

 purpose of nidification. The male appears to arrive very early 

 in the season, before the leaf is on, and the female later." I 

 have also heard from a bird observer, who formerly lived at 

 Nantgwyllt, that it is rather common there, and that several 

 nests have been found. Under the heading, " The Birds of a 

 Welsh County," a writer in ' Temple Bar,' in the year 1887, 

 states that it is a summer visitant to the west side of the range 

 of hills named Radnor Forest. 



Breconshire.— In this county the chief haunt of the Pied 

 Flycatcher is the district included in the basin of the river Usk, 

 where it is fairly common. This river, with most of its 

 tributaries, is in many parts fringed with old trees, which are an 



