THE FLYCATCHERS. 59 



little creature, not quiet and phlegmatic like most Fly- 

 catchers (which are rather dull little birds), but always 

 on the move, hopping about among the boughs or even 

 on the ground, and constantly opening and closing its 

 tail, and flirting it from side to side, using it, hi fact, 

 almost exactly as a lady uses her fan. It has a pretty 

 little tinkling song, repeated at intervals, and is a very 

 dainty little creature altogether. 



It breeds from February to August, building a cup- 

 shaped nest in a fork, the foundation being of grass, with 

 an outside coating of cobwebs. Only three eggs are laid, 

 white with drab spots. 



Another common species of Fantail Flycatcher {Rhi^i- 

 dura alhicollis) has similar habits, but is not so pretty, 

 being soot-coloured all over, except for white eyebrows, 

 throat, and tail-tips. 



The Verditer Flycatcher {Stoparola Melanojys) has 

 nothing remarkable about its form and habits, and is a 

 smaller bird than those I have mentioned, being only 

 six inches long. It is very strikingly coloured, however, 

 the male being of a lovely pale blue all over. The hen 

 is also blue, but of a duller and greener shade; and the 

 young are almost grey, with buff spots. 



This bird is found almost all over the Empire, but not 

 in India south of the Nilgiris, nor in Sind, nor in the 

 Andamans and Nicobars. In Ceylon it is replaced by a 

 somewhat similar but much duller species (StojMrvla 

 sordida). Out of India it extends to China and the Malay 

 Peninsula. It is a migratory bird in a small way, ascend- 

 ing the hills up to nine thousand feet in the breeding 



