I02 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



reticent, and on our approach he flits away along 

 the hedgeside, followed by his browner-plumaged 

 mate, and so disappears into the wood. 



From his coign of vantage on the hedgetop he 

 was watching for his prev, and should one of the 

 larger insects — bee or May chafer — blunder by, he 

 would at once have taken it on the wing. From 

 the fact that small birds are often found hanging 

 upon the thorns, it is evident that these form a 

 regular part of his diet, but they, together with the 

 mice, are usually pounced upon secretly. It is 

 recorded by Yarrell, however, that a Red-backed 

 Shrike has been seen in eager chase of a Black- 

 bird, and Saunders states that it has been known 

 to strike down a flying Sand-Martin and to carry 

 it oft'. 



Three Flycatchers are included in the British 

 list. Of these, the Red-breasted owes its place to 

 a few occurrences only. Of the remaining two, the 

 Spotted and the Pied Flycatchers, the former 

 is bv far the more common, and may be described 

 as one of the most familiar of our woodland 

 birds. 



One peculiarity of the Spotted Flycatcher lies in 

 its catholicity of taste in the selection of a nesting 

 site. It vies with the Robin in the choice of curious 

 and original situations. Normally the nest is found 

 in the creepers of the trellis, in the small branches 

 growing from the bole of an elm, on the beam of 

 an outhouse — hence its name. Beam-bird — or in the 

 broken side of an old wall. But other and more 

 precarious positions are constantly adopted — the 



