240 



Crra&iru of f}atttral ^t^t 



dark brown ; the wing coverts, secondary 



quills, and scapulars, also dark brown, 



j edged with dingy white ; under parts very 



I pale ash, tinged with rufous on the sides 



and breast, the latter being marked with 



SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 

 (MdSCICAPA. ORISOL.A..) 



streaks of brown : the legs are short, and 

 darkish. Of all our summer birds the Fly- 

 catcher is the most mute. It visits this 

 island in the spring, and disappears in Sep- 

 tember. The female builds her nest com- 

 monly in gardens, on any projecting stone 

 in a wall, or on the end of a beam, screened 

 by the leaves of a vine, sweet-briar, or wood- 

 bine, and sometimes close to the post of a 

 door, where people are going in and out all 

 day long. The nest is rather carelessly 

 made of moss and dried grass, mixed in the 

 inside with some wool and a few hairs. She 

 lays four or five eggs, of a dull white, closely 

 spotted ,and blotched with rusty red. This 

 bird feeds on insects, for which it sits watch- 

 ing on a branch or a post, suddenly dropping 

 down upon them, and catching them on the 

 wing, and immediately rising, returns again 

 to its station to wait for more. After the 

 young have quitted the nest, the parent birds 

 follow them from tree to tree, and watch 

 them with the most sedulous attention. 

 They feed them with the flies which flutter 

 among the boughs beneath ; or, pursuing 

 their insect prey with a quick irregular kind 

 of flight, like that of a butterfly, to a greater 

 distance, they immediately return as before 

 described. 



Mr. Knapp says, " We have perhaps no 

 bird more attached to peculiar situations 

 than the GreyFlycatcher(Jfjwcicapafir?-tso7a)j 

 one pair, or their descendants, frequenting 

 year after year the same hole in the wall, or 

 the same branch on the vine or the plum. 

 I once knew a pair of these birds bring off 

 two broods in one season from the same 

 nest. This Flycatcher delights in emi- 

 nences. The naked spray of a tree, or pro- 

 jecting stone in a building, or even a tall 

 stick in the very middle of the grass-plot, is 

 sure to attract its attention, as affording an 

 uninterrupted view of its winged prey ; and 

 from this it will be in constant activity a 

 whole summer's day, capturing its food, and 

 returning to swallow it." 



The PIED FLYCATCHER. (Mitscicapa luc- 

 tuosa.) This species is found in Sweden, 



Russia, and sometimes in this country ; its 

 distribution here, however, being almost con- 

 fined to " the lakes " in the north of England. 

 The beak is black ; the forehead white; crown 

 of the head, and all the upper parts, black ; 

 the lesser wing-coverts and the greater 

 coverts of the primaries are dusky ; the first 

 six quills are wholly dusky, the rest white 

 at the base : the under parts of the bird are 

 white ; the tail is dusky black ; and the legs 

 are black. There is, however, occasionally 

 great variety in their markings. It frequents 

 wild and uncultivated tracts of furze, and 

 open heaths ; and constructs its nest in the 

 hole of a tree. The female lays five very 

 pale blue eggs. 



The RKD-EYED FLYCATCHER. (Miis- 

 cicapa olivacca.') This species is a native 

 of the southern provinces of North America, 

 and is also found in many of the West 

 India islands, particularly Jamaica, where 

 it is called Wldp-Tom-KeUy, from a fancied 

 resemblance of its note to those words. The 

 head, neck, and back are olive brown ; the 

 wing-coverts and quills are edged with 

 green, as is also the tail ; the feathers dull 

 brown above and greyish beneath : from the 

 beak passing ever the eyes and terminating 

 on the hind head is a reddish white line : 

 the under parts of the body are pale white, 

 irregularly spotted with pale yellow ; beak 

 and feet brown. 



Mr. Gosse, in describing this species in his 

 "Birds of Jamaica," says he can scarcely 

 understand how the call can be written 

 Wliip-Tom-Kdly, as the accent is most 

 energetically on the last syllable. The 

 familiar name which he gives to it is John- 

 to-whit ; and says that sounds closely re- 

 sembling those words are uttered by this 

 bird with incessant iteration and untir- 

 ing energy from every grove, nay almost 

 from every tree. Its food, he observes, is 

 both animal and vegetable ; for in its 

 stomach he has found seeds of the Tropic 

 birch, and the berries of sweet-wood, and 

 has also observed it jumping out from its 

 umbrageous retreat after stationary, as well 

 as vagrant, prey, " Incubation takes place 

 in June and July. The nest is rather a neat 

 structure, though made of coarse materials. 

 It is a deep cup, about as large as an ordi- 

 nary tea-cup, narrowed at the mouth ; com- 

 posed of dried grass, intermixed with silk- 

 cotton, and, sparingly, with lichen and 

 spiders' nests, and lined with thatch-threads. 

 It is usually suspended between two twigs, 

 or in the fork of one, the margin being over- 

 woven, so as to embrace the twigs. This is 

 very neatly performed. Specimens vary 

 much in beauty. The eggs, commonly three 

 in number, are delicately white, with a few 

 small red-brown spots thinly scattered over 

 the surface, sometimes very minute and 

 few." 



The CAYENXE FLYCATCHER. (Tityra 



Cayanensis.) A beautiful s_pecies, above | 

 seven inches in length, which inhabits Cay- ! 

 enne and St. Domingo. The crown of the ! 

 head is a brown yellow ; and from the beak, ' 

 which is dusky, to the hind part of the head, j 

 is a white streak : all the upper parts of the 



