SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 24I 



Wren builds in heather, on the cliffs in gorse, in the garden it 

 may select a cabbage top or Brussels sprout. One nest in a 

 shed had had three owners ; the foundation was the mud saucer 

 of a Swallow ; on this a Spotted Flycatcher built ; later a 

 Wren added its domed home. Perhaps the most extraordinary 

 site is preserved in the Chester Museum, a nest tucked between 

 the limp wing and dry carcase of a Sparrow-Hawk hanging on 

 a keeper's gibbet. Five to eight — more are recorded — white or 

 slightly speckled eggs (Plate 84) are. laid in April, and second 

 broods are reared. The eggs of the St. Kilda Wren are larger 

 and often more boldly spotted ; six is the usual number. 



The Wren is rufous brown above, greyer beneath, barred v.ith 

 darker brown and grey, even on wings and tail. The bill is 

 dark brown, the legs pale brown, the irides hazel. Young are 

 less distinctly barred. The St. Kilda bird is greyer above, 

 whiter beneath, and with more abundant bars on the back ; the 

 Shetland Wren is darker. Common Wren : Length, 3-5 ins. 

 Wing, 1*9 ins. Tarsus, 75 in. St. Kilda Wren : Wing, 2*2 ins. 

 Shetland Wren : Wing, 2"i ins. 



Family MUSCICAPID^. Flycatchers. 

 Spotted Flycatcher. Muscicapa grisola Linn. 



The Spotted Flycatcher (Plate 99) is one of the last of the 

 summer visitor to arrive in Britain, it is often absent until early 

 May. Except in the extreme north it breeds throughout Europe 

 and in north-west Africa ; its known winter quarters extend so 

 far south as Natal. In the British Isles it is well distributed, 

 nowhere abundant, but, except in some of the northern islands, 

 nowhere uncommon. In the Orkneys and Shetlands it is a bird 

 of passage. 



Many birds capture flying insects, but none so adroitly as the 

 Spotted Flycatcher. Its grey-brown plumage is inconspicuous 



Series /, r 



