THE PIED-FLYCATCHER 275 



to:ethrr ;tml I-M mlilr rarh other so rloselx in manner of lit*-, it is not 

 to be wondered at that frequent disputes arise between them, and 

 that one ejects the other from his ancestral home. When this occurs, 

 the victorious bird will sometimes incubate the evicted tenant's eggs 

 with its own ; and the well-known instance recorded by Mr. Heysham, 

 i-. a -ood illustration ot this: "On one occasion u- found a <l-al 

 female redstart in the nest of a pied-flycatcher containing two eggs; 

 and at another time, when both species had nests within a few inches 

 of each other, upon the redstart's being removed, the female redstart 

 took possession of the flycatcher's nest, incubated the eggs, and 

 brought up the young." 



The male is diligent in his attention to the hen while she 

 is sitting, and also takes his full share in feeding the young. Mr. 

 Granville Sharp's notes on this point are again very interesting: 

 44 When the hen begins to sit, the cock brings her food, but at first in 

 an intermittent sort of way, allowing himself frequent absences 

 perhaps mindful of the rather dull sentry duty that he went through 

 at the beginning. Meanwhile the hen often leaves the eggs for a little 

 hawking. But soon she sits closely, and then the cock in very atten- 

 tive, bringing her stores of caterpillars and insects. If she happens 

 to be off* the nest at any time when he comes, he flits in and out of 

 the hole, using a querulous note that I have not otherwise heard. .He 

 then eats the insect he has brought, but waits wistfully near the nest 

 till the hen returns." 8 



The food of the pied-flycatcher, while it is with us, consists almost 

 entirely of insects and their larvae, but in Savoy, during autumn, it 

 t. eds not only on insects, but also " on the fruits and berries of the 

 elder, mulberry, and fig." 



Nestling birds are fed largely on caterpillars and booties. When 

 fully fledged, young birds closely resemble the females, but " in their 

 change of plumage the males have all the intermediate shades from 



1 Gould. Hinl* of Great Britain, ' Bird* in a Garden, p. T&. 



1 Gould. Hirtit of Great Britain. 



VOL. II. 2 N 



