26 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



this species is much less frequently obtained at the right age for hand-rearing : 

 when once obtained, however, Swaysland assures us that it is far more easy to 

 keep than the commoner species, and may be turned either into cage or aviary, 

 and fed in the same way as Warblers, or as the Nightingale. Doubtless the food 

 recommended for M. grisola by Mr. Louis Bonhote (Avicultural Magazine, Vol. I, 

 p. 58) would answer equally well for this species ; he says : " In captivity, they 

 should be fed on ants' eggs, and hard-boiled eggs, mixed in equal parts, and as 

 many mealworms as their keeper can afford to give them. They become very tame, 

 and will rise in the air and catch mealworms as they are thrown to them. In 

 catching a mealworm, they leave the perch and hover in the air, waiting for the 

 mealworm to drop, and catch it as it passes them ; if they should miss it, they 

 follow it closely and catch it as soon as it reaches the ground." The Pied Fly- 

 catcher would probably do the latter every time. 



Family MUSCICAPID^. 



THE RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. 



Muscicapa parva, BECHST. 



WITH respect to the distribution of this species, Seebohm informs us that 

 it " breeds in Germany, Austria, and South Russia as far north as the 

 Baltic Provinces, arriving during the latter end of April, or early in May, and 

 departing again in August or September. Its occurrence in Western Europe is 

 only accidental." " Loche says that it is found in Algeria, where it may be a 

 rare winter visitor. It passes through Transylvania, Turkey, Greece, and Asia 

 Minor on migration, and winters in Nubia." " It breeds in the Caucasus, and 

 winters in Persia." His further remarks tend to show that it passes through 

 Turkestan on migration, occurs in the Baikal district, has been obtained in Kam- 

 schatka, and winters in North India and South China. 



Up to the date of the publication of Vol. I. of Seebohni's " History of British 



