BIRDS OF THE WOODLANDS iii 



identified as immature Pied Flycatchers which had 

 ahghted on that desolate spot on their autumn 

 migration. 



In its summer home amidst the English woods 

 the Pied Flycatcher is a lively and interesting bird, 

 and its black and white plumage as it glances 

 amidst the dark green leaves, renders it at once 

 noticeable. It is, however, far more reticent than 

 its spotted congener, and will rarely allow so near 

 an approach. 



It feeds principally upon insects, but unlike the 

 Spotted Flycatcher it does not appear to take them 

 on the wing. 



The photograph shows the male approaching the 

 nesting hole in an old oak-tree. 



Cuckoos 



Three species of Cuckoo are described as British. 

 Two, however, the Great Spotted and the American 

 Yellow-billed, are the veriest stragglers, and their 

 inclusion rests on a few isolated occurrences. The 

 common Cuckoo, on the other hand, is one of the 

 most familiar of British birds, not so much bv 

 reason of its abundance, as by its possession of 

 certain marked characteristics which at once arrest 

 attention. 



The Cuckoo is a somewhat late summer visitant, 

 rarely reaching England, especially the more 

 northerly parts, before mid-April, the old birds 

 departing again about the end of July, leaving the 

 young to follow. Directly on arrival, it makes its 

 presence known by its familiar echoing note, 

 " cuck-oo, cuck-oo," usually uttered from one of the 



