154 RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. 



have no doubt of its irregular occurrence, during winter, in the 

 south-west of Spain. Though only a migrant in Italy, the islands 

 of the Mediterranean, Greece, and the Black Sea region, it breeds 

 in Southern Russia, the Caucasus and Northern Persia ; while east- 

 ward, it occurs in Turkestan, and in Siberia as far as Lake Baikal, 

 where it probably nests, as it visits Northern India and China in 

 winter ; but in that direction its range can with difficulty be traced, 

 owing to the intrusion of a doubtfully distinct species. The winter 

 migrations of our bird extend to Nubia. It arrives in Northern 

 Germany in May, generally leaving early in September ; and it 

 appears to be partial to beech-woods, or those where beech and fir 

 are intermixed. 



The nest, built about the beginning of June, is rather deep and 

 cup-shaped, neatly formed of moss and a few lichens, with a lining 

 of dry grass and hair. It is usually placed in a hole in the trunk 

 or some rotten branch of a beech-tree, but occasionally in a fork 

 against the stem, from six to ten feet from the ground. In ap- 

 pearance the eggs, 5-7 in number, are intermediate between those 

 of the Redbreast and the Spotted Flycatcher ; having a very pale 

 greenish ground-colour, with mottlings of rusty-brown : average 

 measurements '6^ by -5 in. The young are hatched by the end of 

 June, and their food, like that of the adults, consists of insects, in 

 search of which the birds soon leave their breeding-grounds in the 

 forests for the gardens and orchards of the vicinity. The habits of 

 this species are lively and active, and in pugnacity, as in plumage, 

 the male resembles our Redbreast. It has a pleasant song, resem- 

 bling the syllables fivt several times repeated, while the alarm-note 

 is a clear pinl', pink. 



The adult male in breeding-plumage has the cheeks ash-grey ; 

 crown and nape browner grey ; upper parts in general wood-brown ; 

 tail (of twelve feathers) rather darker brown, with conspicuous white 

 bases to all except the central pair; chin, throat and upper breast 

 reddish-orange ; belly white ; sides and flanks pale buff; bill brown ; 

 legs dark brown. Length 4'5 in. ; wing 2 "8 in. The female has no 

 ash-grey on the head and her throat is merely reddish-buff. The 

 young have a spotted nestling-plumage, and afterwards the wing- 

 coverts and secondaries are tipped with buff; otherwise they resemble 

 the female. The male breeds in the immature plumage of the first 

 year, while the orange-red on the throat does not extend to the breast 

 until after the third moult. 



