The Pied Flycatcher 27 



spot, and before I had seen any other description of it, recall the song to my 

 memory — the short notes at the beginning, the rather fragmentary and hesitating 

 character of the strain, and the little coda or iiuish, which reminded me of the 

 Chaffinch, but all this will have no meaning to nij^ readers. There is but one 

 way of learning a bird's song, and that is by listening to it in solitude again and 

 again, until you have associated it in your mind, with the form, and habits, and 

 haunts of the singer." 



Gatke states that the Pied Flycatcher " visits Heligoland in larger numbers 

 than any of its near relatives. It is especially abundant during the autumn 

 migration, returning from its nesting quarters as early as the beginning of August, 

 if the weather is fine and warm, and the wind from the south or south-east." 

 "Why this bird should migrate before scarcity of food or cold compel it to do so, 

 it is difficult to imderstand ; probably the tendency has been inherited, and points 

 back to some remote period when the summers of Kurope were of short duration. 



The food of this species consists largely of insects, but it rarely, if ever, 

 pursues them in the air like the Spotted Flycatcher, preferring to watch from the 

 end of a branch, and pounce suddenly down upon them ; it is not, therefore, sur- 

 prising that among the pellets of undigested matter ejected by this, as by other 

 insectivorous birds, wing-cases of small beetles predominate ; it is, however, said 

 to pick flies and gnats from leaves upon which they have settled, and to eat worms. 

 Later in the year, as currants, raspberries, elderberries, etc., become ripe, the Pied 

 Flycatcher is said to add them to its dietary. 



Far more beautiful than its Spotted relative, and with a much better idea of 

 music, it is no wonder that, where opportunity offers, this species is prized as a 

 cage-bird ; yet I have never seen one exhibited in England ; though in Germany 

 the Pied Flycatcher has put in an appearance at the exhibitions of the "Ornis" 

 Society. Being so much more local in Great Britain than the Spotted Flycatcher, 

 this species is much less frequently obtained at the right age for hand-rearing : 

 when once obtained, however, Swaysland assures us that it is far more easy to 

 keep than the commoner species, and may be turned either into cage or aviary, 

 and fed in the same w'Siy as Warblers, or as the Nightingale. Doubtless the food 

 recommended for M. grisola by Mr. Louis Bonhote (Avicultural Magazine, Vol. I, 

 p. 58) would answer equally well for this species; he says: — "In captivity, they 

 should be fed on ants' eggs, and hard-boiled eggs, mixed in equal parts, and as 

 many mealworms as their keeper can afford to give them. They become very tame, 

 and will rise in the air and catch mealworms as they are thrown to them. In 

 catching a mealworm, they leave the perch and hover in the air, waiting for the 

 mealworm to drop, and catch it as it passes them ; if they should miss it, they 



