180 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. x. 



leave the nest on very little provocation when they are 

 only twelve days old. After they have left the nest 

 the whole brood go about in a party until the time for 

 migration, and keep somewhere in the neighbourhood 

 of the nest. 



I have watched both old birds throw up pellets just 

 like the young. They often catch their prey, especially 

 bees, wasps, flies, etc., with the same swoop from a perch 

 that the Flycatchers use. They appear to swallow- 

 wasps or bees without ever troubling about the sting 

 after they have beaten the insect thoroughly against a 

 branch or something of the sort. 



