158 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. , 



The nest is frequently placed among creepers or trellis-work, or in 

 a hole in a wall or a tree ; occasionally behind loose bark ; often on 

 a beam in a verandah or an out-building, whence the name of " Beam- 

 bird " ; and sometimes in such odd situations as the top of a door- 

 hinge, the inside of a lamp or of a stove, &c. The structure, which 

 is rather neat, and generally assimilated to its surroundings, is of 

 moss, lichens, and a few strips of bark, warmly lined with wool, hair 

 and feathers. In the eggs, which are 4-6 in number, the ground- 

 colour varies from bluish-white to pale green, spotted and clouded 

 with rusty-brown: measurements 75 by "55 in. Incubation begins 

 about the third week in May, and is said to devolve entirely upon 

 the female, who is fed by the male ; two broods are not unfrequently 

 produced in the season, the first being hatched early in June. There 

 is evidence that the Spotted Flycatcher occasionally makes use of 

 old nests of other birds, without alteration or addition {Cf. C. Wolley 

 Dod, 'The Field' August 14th 1897, p. 307). This is one of the 

 few species which nest in some of our London parks and gardens. 

 Its food consists principally of insects, and the bird may often be 

 seen sitting on a fence or branch, whence it darts upon some fly or 

 gnat, returning with a graceful sweep to the spot it has just quitted. 

 It can even manage a tolerably large moth, such as the Yellow 

 Underwing, and it will dash at the Small White butterfly {Pieris 

 rapcv), though it always declines that insect on closer acquaintance ; 

 while in the autumn it has been known to feed on berries, especially 

 those of the mountain-ash, to which so many species of birds 

 are partial. The song is very faint and low, and the call-note is a 

 zt-chick. 



The adult has the crown light brown, with dark streaks down the 

 centre of the feathers ; upper parts hair-brown, slightly darker on the 

 wings and tail, and paler on the margins of the wing-coverts and 

 secondaries ; chin and under parts dull w^hite, with brown streaks on 

 the throat, breast and flanks ; bill dark brown ; legs and feet blackish. 

 The sexes are alike in plumage. Length 5"S in. ; wing y^ in. The 

 young are very much spotted ; the feathers of the upper parts have 

 pale centres with broad dark margins, and the wing- and tail-coverts 

 are conspicuously tipped with buff, as are also the secondaries. 



