A Caterpillar Year 67 



by their silken threads ; and one pair, whose nest was in 

 the masonry of a bridge, brought at least forty caterpillars 

 to their young ones during the half-hour I sat smoking a 

 pipe upon the parapet. Another betrayed the whereabouts 

 of his nest, in a hole in the root of an ash, below ground- 

 level, though on a steepish bank, by snapping at a cater- 

 pillar that hung within a few feet of my head, and carrying 

 it off to his sitting partner. 



The Pied Flycatcher is one of the most engaging birds 

 that find a summer home in these Welsh vales. So dainty 

 and unobtrusive in all its actions, and, though shy, still so 

 willing to reciprocate our friendship that it takes readily 

 to the proffered nesting box even when the latter is nailed 

 up within a few feet of an always open window. Its 

 impatience of approach, where its haunt is in some little 

 frequented mountain glen, seems due rather to native 

 reserve than to any actual mistrust of man ; for though it 

 retires promptly on our first intrusion, we need only to be 

 seated and remain quiet for a few minutes, to witness its 

 return. Silently it flits through the grey birches, pausing 

 ever and anon to secure an insect, or as though to 

 reconnoitre, till presently it alights on a dead bough quite 

 close to us ; not, as it were, courting attention, but offering 

 a friendly salutation in the repeated shuffling of its wings. 

 Once satisfied that no harm is meant, it will continue its 

 ordinary business regardless of our proximity, or without 

 sign of fear, but it instantly withdraws again if its suspicions 

 are aroused by any untoward movement. 



Scarcely is the Robin, or the Great Tit, more easily induced 

 to occupy a nesting box, and by judiciously moving the box 

 each year, a pair of these Flycatchers may be drawn from 

 quite a distance to the vicinity of the house. This is a 

 hint which may be appreciated by some people, who may 

 have a desire to add to the variety of birds nesting in their 

 grounds, and with the exercise of a little patience, it does 

 not seem improbable that the areas already occupied by Pied 

 Flycatchers (and perhaps some other birds) might be gradu- 

 ally extended thereby. It must not be forgotten, however, 

 that the Pied Flycatcher is one of those species which, for 



