424 the Zoologist. 



nesting sites is keen.. The nest is easily found by watching the 

 birds, but the eggs are difficult to obtain, owing to the hardness 

 of the wood, and the difficulty in reaching the site. Out of over 

 a dozen nests I have found, I have only been able to obtain eggs 

 from four. Two nests which I took are composed chiefly of 

 honeysuckle bark strips and dead oak leaves. I have examined 

 eggs frem five nests, and believe the only ones with which they 

 are likely to be confused are those of the Redstart. On com- 

 paring a series of eggs of these two species, I find those of the 

 Redstart are larger, of a deeper blue-green, more glossy and 

 more pear-shaped; those of the Pied Flycatcher being much 

 paler, almost an oval in shape, and wi£h little or no gloss. Eggs 

 from one clutch of seven are very small, and less in size than 

 those of a Wood-warbler. Mr. E. Cambridge Phillips, in his 

 "Birds of Breconshire " ('The Zoologist,' 1881, p. 409), 

 writes : — " This county seems to be a favourite resort of this 

 bird, and I may say with truth that it is fairly plentiful. It has 

 bred in my garden at Vennyvach, and it nests also in several 

 places in and near this town. Ornithologists residing here (and 

 they are very few) agree with me that it is far from rare ; and 

 therefore I can only arrive at the pleasant conclusion that, 

 although elsewhere generally considered a scarce bird, this county 

 seems exceptionally favoured." Mr. Alfred Crawshay, writing to 

 me, says that he sees the Pied Flycatcher every spring, about the 

 banks of the Usk near Buckland : that it seems to be fond 

 of alder trees ; and one year he noticed a pair of these birds 

 going to feed their young in a nest placed in a hole of a decayed 

 tree. 



Pembrokeshire. — Mr. Thomas Dix writes : — " Pied Fly- 

 catcher. — Specimens in the collection at Stackpole Court (Mr. 

 Tracey tells me), were killed in the neighbourhood; also that the 

 bird is occasionally seen in the spring and autumn." (' The 

 Zoologist,' 1869. p. 1671). 



Glamorganshire. — Mr. Digby S. W. Nicholl, writing from 

 The Ham, Cowbridge, says:— " On May 8th, in the grounds 

 adjoining this house, I obtained a male specimen of the Pied 

 Flycatcher. This is, to my knowledge, the only authentic 

 occurrence of this flycatcher in Glamorgan." (' The Zoologist,' 

 1888, p. 229). 



