428 Contributions to the 



turalist, p. 187, 3d ed.) The respective dates of its occurrence else- 

 where than in the north are unknown to me. 



The Spotted Fly-catcher, — Muscicapa grisola, Linn. — Is a 

 regular summer visitant to the north-east of Ireland, and probably 

 to suitable localities throughout the country, though it has been but 

 little noticed. From the dulness of its plumage, want of song, and 

 its weak call being seldom heard, it is certainly one of the least ob- 

 trusive of our birds ; the period of its arrival too, being prolonged 

 until the trees have put forth their " leafy honours,'' further serves 

 to screen it from observation. 



It is the latest of the summer birds, appearing in the neighbour- 

 hood of Belfast about the 12th of May, and remaining till autumn 

 is far advanced. In addition to the ordinary places selected for nidi- 

 fication here, as holes in walls and trees, &c. I have seen a nest 

 resting in part upon an aperture in a wall, and partly on the branch 

 of a fig tree trained against it. An observant friend has remarked, 

 that one which he saw placed against the unglazed window of an 

 out-house was so covered^with cobwebs inside and out, that no other 

 material was visible. In another instance, the parent bird was very 

 bold on its nest being approached, flying angrily so near the intruder, 

 that it might almost have been struck by his hand. The Rev. Tho- 

 mas Knox informs me, that the spotted fly-catcher breeds about 

 Killaloe, (county Clare,) and he supposes has occasionally either two 

 broods, or builds a second time if the first nest be destroyed, as on 

 the 1st of August 1833, he saw one sitting on young birds, though 

 on the 8th of June in the previous year, he knew a brood to have 

 been hatched. On this subject see White's Selborne, p. 179, ed. 

 1837, and Journal of a Naturalist, p. 207- 



The Water-Ouzel — Cinclus aquaticus, Bechst. — Is as gene- 

 rally distributed over Ireland, as I may say from personal observa- 

 tion, it is in suitable localities in England, Wales, or Scotland. 

 With the romantic and picturesque in scenery this bird is associat- 

 ed, frequenting the stream only so far as it can boast of such charming 

 accompaniments ; whenever it descends to the lowlands, to move 

 sluggishly through the plain, the water-ouzel forsakes it to continue 

 in its upland haunts. By Montagu and Selby it is described mere- 

 ly as a very early songster ; but in the north of Ireland its song is 

 occasionally heard at all seasons ; and indeed most frequently in the 

 winter months, the bright mornings and forenoons that occur dur- 

 ing the most severe frost and snow, have always seemed to me the 



