THE TRUE FLYCATCHERS. 32 I 



the three kingdoms, becoming rarer in the north, and seldom 

 reaching the Orkneys and Shetland Islands, where it occurs 

 only as a straggler. 



Range outside the British Islands. — The Spotted Flycatcher 

 breeds almost everywhere in Europe, including all the Mediter- 

 ranean countries, as far east as Persia and Siberia and Turkestan. 

 According to Mr.Seebohm its eastern breeding range is bounded 

 by no° E. long. In Scandinavia it is found as far north as 

 Tromso, and also at Archangel, but does not occur far north 

 in the Urals, though it is found at Krasnoyarsk. In winter 

 it is met with in North-western India, and in Africa, as far 

 south as Natal, migrating by the Nile Valley and down the east 

 coast. In Western Africa it is also an abundant winter visi- 

 tant, and occurs in most collections from the Gold Coast. It 

 probably migrates along the west coast of Africa, following the 

 course of the rivers, as the late Mr. Jameson procured a 

 specimen in the far interior at Yambuya, on the Aruwhimi 

 River. 



Habits. — The Spotted Flycatcher is a very late arrival in 

 Great Britain, and comes to us some time after the bulk of the 

 summer migrants have landed on our shores, appearing 

 generally in the month of May, though earlier records of its 

 visits in spring are related. In the summer it is a noticeable 

 bird, and in most places a tame and familar species, taking up 

 its abode in sheltered situations, and nesting in the verandahs 

 and trellis-work on houses. A shelter seems indispensable to 

 the Flycatcher's nest, and it builds the latter under the shade 

 of overhanging creepers round a house, or in the crevice of the 

 bark of a fruit-tree, where an overhanging bough protects the 

 nest. As a rule the Flycatcher is seen in the open, sitting on 

 a garden-fence, orchard-rail, or the bare branch of a tree, from 

 which it sallies forth in pursuit of its insect food, generally re- 

 turning to the perch from which it started. As a rule, the bird 

 flies down on its prey and takes it in the air or off the ground, 

 by a direct flight, but if the quarry is pursued for some distance, 

 it is interesting to observe the way in which the Flycatcher 

 turns and doubles in its flight after an insect. The food of the 

 present species consists almost entirely of insects, flies, gnats, 

 beetles, etc., but in the autumn it is said to feed on berries, 

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