The Spotted Flycatcher 23 



The Spotted Flycatctier rarely reaches us before May ; but, nevertheless is in 

 no hurry to go to nest ; the earliest date at which I have taken its eggs was on 

 the 30th of that month, and they are rarely obtained before June. 



As proof that birds are sometimes unable to recognize their own eggs, the 

 following fact (already recorded in my Handbook of British Oology) is of interest : 

 On the 4th June, 1S78, I removed three eggs from a rather small nest of the 

 Spotted Flycatcher formed in the hollow top of a tree stump in a small plantation 

 of hazels. I substituted three hazel-nuts for the eggs, and these completely filled 

 the cavity of the nest. On the 8th of June I returned and found the hen sitting: 

 she had ejected one of the hazel-nuts to make room for a fourth egg- 



Respecting the notes of this species, Seebohm sa3'S : — "It is very widely and 

 popularly believed that the Spotted Flycatcher is not gifted with any powers of 

 song ; but this is an error. His song is heard but rarely, it is true, and is uttered 

 in such a low tone as to be scarcely heard a few yards awa}'. It is given forth 

 both when the bird is sitting at rest and when fluttering in the air after insects. 

 It consists of a few rambling notes, not unlike part of the Whinchat's song. The 

 monotonous call-note may perhaps be best expressed by the letters cf, zt ; it is 

 uttered in rapid succession from one perching-place, and every now and then the 

 tail is jerked to and fro with graceful motion. Sometimes a second syllable is 

 added to the call-note, which then sounds like zt-chick.'" 



I think that Seebohm is incorrect in this last statement: in 1894 I had a 

 family of young Spotted Flycatchers in my garden for over a week, and I found 

 that their call to their parents was zt-chick, and the answer of the parents was sf. 

 I never heard an adult bird use the longer call. 



The food of the Spotted Flycatcher in the summer months consists of insects, 

 spiders, and centipedes, but in the autumn it is said to eat the berries of the 

 mountain-ash ; much of its food is obtained on the wing, either by repeated sallies 

 into the air, by hawking low down over the meadows, or hovering in front of old 

 walls, or manure heaps. 



As this species rarely has eggs before the beginning of June, and usually 

 leaves this country in September, it is not surprising that it is single brooded. 



Mr. Gumey's experience of the perseverance with which this species adheres 

 to a building site was published many years since in the "Zoologist" ; but never- 

 theless is sufficiently interesting to bear repeating here ; he says : — " About the 

 end of June last, a Spotted Flycatcher began to build a nest over the door of the 

 lodge at the entrance of my grounds. The woman who lives in the lodge, not 

 wishing the bird to build there, destro3'ed the commencement of the nest ; every 

 day for a week the bird placed new materials on the same ledge over the door, 



