BIRDS 127 



on a small stream near Appleby, on the Croglin, on the Petterii, 

 on the Eden, on the Liddell, and in various wooded nooks 

 among the Lake mountains, though no longer known in the 

 neighbourhood of Morecambe Bay. 



When I visited Edenhall this year, May 28th [1891], I found 

 that most of the favourite trees and trunks of the Pied Fly- 

 catcher had been cut down ; hence such few pairs as elected to 

 breed on the old ground were compelled to nest in tall trees, 

 owing to the dearth of less ambitious sites. Mr. Carr and I 

 watched a pair of Flycatchers flitting about the alder-bushes, 

 full of affection for one another, though not apparently nesting 

 like their neighbours. A good many pairs nested here in former 

 years. In 1888, for example, there was one nest in a birch-tree 

 about seven feet from the ground. Another couple had taken 

 possession of a hole high up in one of the dead limbs of a tall 

 Scotch fir ; another nest was placed in the base of an oak-tree, 

 almost level with the ground, slightly raised by the fact of its 

 having been built on the top of an old nest. The next was in 

 a birch-tree, and the next in a hollow branch of an ash-tree, 

 while another was in a dead branch of a second Scotch fir. It 

 sometimes happens that the fissure into which this Flycatcher 

 has crept closes, so that the nest must be placed elsewhere. 

 Otherwise, these Flycatchers often occupy their favourite holes 

 season after season. Sometimes a decayed thorn-bush holds a 

 nest of this species for many years. But the birds are not con- 

 fined to timber for their nesting holes ; it frequently happens 

 that they nest in loose stone walls. The males are jealous little 

 fellows ; after the flocks have paired off, there are always some 

 bachelors left unmated, a frequent cause of subsequent commo- 

 tion. One afternoon last May I chanced to stroll along the 

 Ladies' Walk beside the Eden, near Langwathby, and found a pair 

 of Pied Flycatchers and a single male flitting about the thorn- 

 bushes which overhang the river. The males sang cheerily, 

 particularly the young one. Once the old cock came and perched 

 on a green spray just over my head, as I crouched all but motion- 

 less on the grass. Several sharp tussles occurred between the 

 two males ; the paired female looked quietly on, admiring the 

 prowess of her champions. In 1888 a nest of this bird was 



