Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/524

490 casually on many bits of stream, I did not see one during the time (June 15th to July 3rd, 1899) I spent in the district. Nor did I meet with more than one pair of Grey Wagtails (another bird one associates with the west). These seemed to be breeding under the arch of Pont Rhyd Gôch, on the Afon Erch. The Pied Wagtail was fairly common. I did not find Ray's Wagtail, but Mr. T.A. Coward (who has paid several visits to the district), to whom I am indebted for some most interesting notes on the birds of Lleyn, tells me he has seen it at Abersoch and Nevin. The Rock-Pipit is common about the rocky parts of the coast, and is found on some at least of the islands. It was more abundant on one headland than in any other spot I have visited—a charming grassy headland studded with grey rocks, and at that time gay with Silene maritima, Armeria maritima, and Erythræa littoralis; the home, too, of the rarer Scilla verna. The Pipits had, I think, hatched their young, and would sit on a stone, with an anxious manner, and utter unceasingly their cry of alarm or distress—a very high shrill "chip" or "chick"—as long as one's patience lasted. The call-note "sneek" or "snik" sounded all around, and some birds were in full song. This is "tig tig tig," &c. (rising flight), "swik swik," &c. (first part of falling flight), and then numerous more musical "tinks," uttered very rapidly, to finish up with. The plumage of these Rock-Pipits even at that date was worn and brownish; the head distinctly greyer; throat-patch light, a tiny eye-streak visible, and two bars on the wing conspicuous. The Meadow Pipit is very common—among sand-hills on the coast, on the headlands, moorlands, and mountains. When alarmed for the safety of its nest or young, the note is a very sharp quick "chittick," somewhat like the sound made by a House-Cricket. Its rapid song always sounds to me very monotonous, there being usually only one change in it; it consists of a short quick "chewit" frequently repeated, followed by a still more rapidly uttered "chit" or "chee." The name "Neighing-Bird," bestowed by Charleton on one or other of the Pipits, seems an appropriate one for this bird ('Exercitationes,' 1677). I saw and heard the Tree-Pipit on several occasions. One near Llwyn-gwyn sat on a low flat-topped wall to sing the perching-song, then soared and returned to the spot.

Mountain birds were, of course, rarely seen. As I ascended