34 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



nest and eggs have twice been taken at Freshwater, 

 Isle of Wight (More, Zool, 1860, p. 6851), and 

 once in Dorsetshire (Mansel Pleydell, " Birds of 

 Dorset," p. 17) ; while young birds have been 

 obtained in other counties. This was one of the 

 rarer birds noticed at Selborne by Gilbert White. 



Fam. MUSCICAPID^. 



SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Muscicapa grisola, Lmnceus. 

 PI. 5, figs. 1, la. Length, 5'5 in. ; wing, 3*3 in. ; tar- 

 sus, -75 in. 



A summer migrant, generally distributed, but 

 less common in Scotland than elsewhere in the 

 British Isles. The young differ from the adult birds 

 in being spotted all over ; hence the familiar name. 



Flycatchers, like Shrikes and birds of prey, 

 have a habit of ejecting from the mouth, in the 

 shape of small pellets, the indigestible portions of 

 their food. These pellets, or " castings," as they 

 are termed by falconers, resemble, in the case 

 of the Spotted Flycatcher, small blue pills, and on 

 examination have been found to be composed of 

 the hard and shining wing-cases of small beetles. 

 A similar habit of ejecting pellets has been noticed 

 in Eooks, AVood Pigeons, and some other birds. 



PIED FLYCATCHER. Muscicapa atricapilla, Linnaeus. 

 PI. 5, figs. 2,3,3a. Length, 5 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, -6 in. 



A summer migrant, but more local in its distri- 

 bution than the Spotted Flycatcher, being confined 



