THE FLYCATCHERS. 



377 



The Spotted Flycatcher builds a very neatly-made nest, and is in the 

 habit of fixing his home in the most curious and unsuspected localities. 

 The hinge of a door has on more than one occasion been selected for 

 the purpose, and in one instance the nest had retained its position al- 

 though the door was repeatedly opened and closed, until a more severe 

 shock than ordinary shook the eggs out of the nest and broke them. 

 It is fond of selecting some human habitation for the locality in which 

 to build its nest, and its titles of Beam Bird and Wall Bird have been 

 given to it because it is in the habit of making its home on beams or 

 in the holes of walls. The 

 branches of a pear, apri- 

 cot, vine, or honeysuckle 

 are favorite resorts of the 

 Spotted Flycatcher when 

 the tree has been trained 

 against a wall. 



The nest is generally 

 round and cup-shaped, 

 and is made of fine 

 grasses, moss, roots, hair, 

 and feathers, the harder 

 materials forming the 

 walls of the nest, and 

 the softer being employed 

 as lining. 



The eggs of the Spotted 

 Flycatcher are four or five 

 in number, and their color 

 is a very pale bluish white, 

 spotted with ruddy speck- 

 L'S. As the nest is made 

 at so late a period of the 

 vear, beiupf but just be- , rr . t,, , i or. w. . j v, x v, 



' '^ 1.11 ^- Tvrant Flvcatcher. 2. Great Crested Flycatcher, 



gun when some birds have 3. Small Green-crested Flycatcher. 4. Pewit Fly- 

 hatched their first brood, catcher. 6. Wood Pewit Flycatcher. 



there is often not more than a single family in the course of the sea- 

 son. Sometimes, however, it has been known to hatch and rear a 

 second brood in safety. 



The general color of the Spotted Flycatcher is a delicate brown on 

 the upper parts of the body, the quill feathers of the wings and tail 

 being, as is usually the case, of a blacker hue than the feathers of the 

 back. There are a few dark spots on the top of the head, and the 

 terti^l feathers of the wings are edged with light brown. The breast 

 is white, with a patch of very light dull brown across its upper portion, 

 32* 



The Flycatchers. 



