12 
The Yellow Bunting strays occasionally into the garden 
from the fields and lanes about, where he is very common. 
During the summer one can nearly always hear the charac- 
teristic song close at hand, but I have not found a nest 
within three hundred yards of the garden. 
On the boundary-wire and tennis net the industrious 
Spotted Flycatcher takes his stand, year by year, towards 
the end of May. From this vantage ground he darts after 
his prey with that audible snapping of the bill; apart from 
this he seems to hunt in silence. Towards the middle of 
June his activity becomes more marked whilst feeding his 
mate and young ones. It is a pretty sight to see the 
anxious parent birds teaching the young brood to fare for 
themselves. This vear a pair nested over a window, and I 
was able to obtain this photograph of the hen bird and nest. 
Out of a clutch of four, the birds successfully brought off 
three young ones. (See Note below). 
Swallows and House-Martins are always numerous, 
and breed under the eaves of most of the houses round 
about. 
The Swifts wheel forward and backward over the 
garden, and soaring higher and higher as the day-light 
wanes, disappear at last in the dark vault of heaven. What 
wonderful powers of endurance they must possess, for, 
Note.—This illustration has caused much discussion. The bird, judging 
especially from its bill, appears to be a Finch or Linnet rather than a Flycatcher, 
and the photograph has not been retouched, On the other hand, we have Mr. 
Siddall’s assurance that a brood of Flycatchers was reared in this nest. It is a 
problem for each reader to try and solve.—W.J/. D. 
