PIED FLYCATCHER. # 



occurred on the ISth. of June, 1843. On the parent birds 

 returning in the April of the following year to the same 

 place, they \vere again assailed by the bees; on which they 

 entirely forsook the spot, and built in a hole in a neighbouring 

 \vail. 



Their food consists of insects, which they capture in the 

 air, and also, it is said, from the leaves of the trees they 

 frequent. 



The note is described as pleasing, and is said to resemble 

 that of the Redstart, and to be occasionally uttered on the 

 wing. The bird has also a voice of alarm, resembling the 

 work 'chuck.' 



Nidification takes place in May, and the young are hatched 

 the beginning of June. 



The nest, which is composed of moss, grass, straws, chips 

 of bark, leaves, and hair, is built sometimes high up in trees, 

 but often only a fesv feet from the ground, in a hole of a 

 tree, or of a wall, or bridge, as also, occasionally, on a branch 

 or stump of a tree; if in a hole, and it be too large, the 

 bird is said to narrow the entrance with mud. This species 

 to have a predilection for the neighbourhocd of water, 

 probably on account of the greater number of insects to be 

 there met with. The same situation appears to be resorted 

 to in successive years. 



The eggs, from four or five to seven or eight in number, 

 are small, oval, and bluish green, or sometimes nearly white; 

 but they vary considerably in size and shape. Those observed 

 in one nest by Mr. T. C. Heysham, of Carlisle, were disposed 

 as follows : 'One lay at the bottom, and the remainder were 

 all regularly placed perpendicularly round the side of the nest, 

 with the smaller ends resting upon it, the effect of which was 

 exceedingly beautiful.' The young are hatched in about a 

 fortnight: both birds by turns sit on the eggs. 



These birds are said, by Meyer, to moult twice in the 

 .vhich causes some difference in the colours of their 

 pmmage. Male; weight, a little over three drachms; length, 

 about five inches; bill, black; iris, dark brown. Head on the 

 sides, dark brown, spotted with white; crown, black; forehead, 

 white, the connexion of two white spots; neck and nape, 

 brownish or greyish black; chin, throat, and breast, white, 

 tinged with yellowish brown at the sides. Back, black, blackish 

 grey in winter. 



The wings expand to the width of seven inches and a 



