NOTHS ON. THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 223 
features. It is locally common in some parts of Wales, and the 
same remarks are applicable to Yorkshire and Westmorland, but 
further north it becomes more scarce ; whilst in Scotland it is a 
searce breeding species, and in Ireland, where it was first recorded 
in 1875, it is still more so. 
Regarding its distribution in Airedale, I have heard or known 
of but two instances of its nesting for over forty years—once 
near Malham, and once in the Goit Stock Valley. Once it com- 
menced to breed in Bingley Woods, but was dispossessed by a 
Blue Tit from a hole in an old beech tree, nearly as soon as it 
commenced to build its nest. 
What makes its scarcity in this district (Airedale) all the 
more remarkable is the fact that in not a few places the combina- 
tion of physical features is almost identical with those which 
obtain in its haunts in Wharfedale, where it is so common; and, 
moreover, the Aire Valley would appear to be one of the migra- 
tion routes to its more suitable breeding stations, since it is met 
with here nearly every spring in late April, but disappears after 
a very short stay. I am not aware of any instance of this 
species breeding in Lower Airedale. It has been seen at Col- 
lingham (Harrison), and a nest is said to have been found at 
Wetherby in 1889 (Stephens). 
In the Hast Riding it is more to be regarded as a bird of 
passage, although it is said to have nested in one or two cases. 
Probably some of the individuals which nest in North-west 
Yorkshire and Westmorland work their way up the river valleys 
from the east coast. 
Near Pontefract it has been observed, but whether it breeds 
there I am not in a position to say. At Roche Abbey, on the 
borders of Nottinghamshire, it is said to be a rare summer 
visitor, and so presumably breeds, but is a common breeding 
species at Stainborough Park, near Barnsley. North-east of 
Stainborough Park, in a line to the borders of Westmorland, it 
is but sporadically distributed, and has been reported as having 
bred at Huddersfield, Halifax, and Hebden Bridge (Nelson), but I 
am not aware of any recent occurrences within these districts. 
It is not included in the records of Upper Ribblesdale by Peake, 
but it breeds lower down the valley near Gisbourne. It appears 
to be absent in the Ingleton district. It is reported as having 
