222 ML-SCICAPIU.E. 



even as late as nine o'clock at night. This bird has no 

 power of voice beyond a harsh call-note. 



A curious fact in reference to this bird was noticed by 

 the late Mr. Thomas Andrew Knight. A Flycatcher built 

 in his stove for several successive years. He observed that 

 the bird quitted its eggs whenever the thermometer in the 

 house was above 72° Fahr., and resumed her place upon the 

 nest again when the thermometer sunk below. The young- 

 are hatched about the second week in June : when able to 

 leave the nest, they follow the parent birds, who feed them 

 until they can catch insects for themselves. When on 

 the look-out for food, they generally take their stand on 

 the top of a post, on the upper bar of a flight of rails, or 

 the extreme end of a branch of a tree, whence they dart off 

 on the approach of an insect, appear to catch it with ease 

 by a short and rapid movement, returning frequently to the 

 spot they had quitted, to keep watch as before. These birds 

 feed exclusively on winged insects, though they have been 

 accused of eating cherries and raspberries ; and in this 

 belief the species in some parts of Kent goes by the name 

 of the Cherry-sucker, but they visit fruit-trees for the sake 

 of the flies which the ripening produce attracts, since on 

 examination of the stomachs of Flycatchers killed under 

 such circumstances no remains of fruit were found. 



White says that the Spotted Flycatcher only rears one 

 brood in this country ; but many instances of this bird's 

 producing a second hatch are known. Mr. Knox indeed 

 has recorded such an event for three successive seasons. 



The Spotted Flycatcher is common during summer in all 

 the counties of Great Britain, though less frequent in 

 Scotland ; and Thompson says that it is also a regular 

 summer-visitor to some parts of Ireland, and perhaps to 

 suitable spots throughout the island ; but it would seem to 

 be very local and sparingly distributed even in the counties 

 in which it occurs, as Cork, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Clare, 

 Dublin, with those of the north-east pai-t of Ulster. It is a 

 common bird throughout the European continent, its range 

 extending to lat. 69° N., at which elevation it is far from 



