CATALOGUE OK BIRDS, I3I 



They sit silent, almost motionless, watching every 

 sort of insect life as it passes and comes within 

 range, then, when the opportunity comes, out they 

 cro with a dart ! As the Kinoffisher is in reo^ard to 

 a fish, so is this little bird in respect of a fly. 



Mr. Pycraft, in classing their habit with that of 

 the Swallows and Martins, says : " Not one of these 

 will deign to touch the earth to take from it one 

 morsel of food, but captures it in passing through 

 the air." 



I have watched the aerial performances of this 

 little bird times without number, and what has 

 struck me most has been the persistence with 

 which they stick to one spot till the supply of 

 insects around seems to be exhausted. 



The nest of this species is composed of fine 

 grass and moss, with a lining of hair, wool, feathers, 

 etc. I have generally seen nests in some creeper, 

 such as ivy on a wall, but Mr. Kearton says, "they 

 occur in almost every conceivable situation," and 

 gives the picture of one in the trunk of a tree ; 

 Howard Saunders gives "a hole in a wall or a tree, 

 or often on a beam in an outbuilding." Number 

 of eggs, four to five, dingy white, spotted with pale 

 brown, but varying considerably. 



The specimens in the case were obtained in 

 county Merionethshire. The nesting-site of ivy 

 and a wall being a , very common one for this 

 species, it has been selected as most effective and 

 suitable for this family. Mr. Charles Thorpe, 

 Naturalist, East Croydon, to whom the casing of 



