Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/183

Rh search of the reed-beds and lush vegetation of the pools, over which a small species of dragonfly darted and hovered in numbers. I did not find the Great Reed Warbler in any other locality in the Dinant district, but met with it near Mechelen.

.—Pretty common along the Meuse, especially above Hastière. Often to be seen singing on the wing, flying up high into the air also and then descending singing into a low tree or bush. I could not detect the Aquatic Warbler.

.—I only saw two; one near the railway at Agimont, the other singing from the top of a roadside spruce in the Forest of Ardenne. Here, as in Switzerland, it does not seem to be the familiar garden bird it is with us. Later on I met with it, however, in the Botanic Garden at Mechelen.

.—This widely distributed species was on the whole the commonest Titmouse; there were fully fledged young at Houx on the 9th.

.—I met with some in the Forest of Ardenne, and a pair in the valley of the Lesse near Walzin.

.—Seen in the same localities, and in about the same numbers as the last named species.

.—Frequently seen; almost as common as the Greater Tit.

.—Frequently seen; Forest of Ardenne, Casino gardens, &c.

.—Seen once.

.—Common. Young broods were on the wing, and, as I could only see these and old males (at least I could not see a bird which looked like a female), I imagine the females were sitting on second clutches. White Wagtails were especially common by the Meuse below Hastière; they often flew about half-way across the river with a dancing flight, about a foot above the surface of the water, to catch flies, and then returned to sit on the road, the low stone posts, or the iron protecting rail.

.—There were many Blue-headed Wagtails all down the Meuse from Givet, but they were commonest in the wide meadows above Hastière. Some hawked flies over the river, returning to perch near the spot they started from; they usually hawked higher in the air than the White Wagtails. These Wagtails perched habitually in the willows and the young fruit trees