36 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



lower parts of the male bird are very noteworthy. 

 The Redstart is a summer migrant to our islands, 

 very generally dispersed, arriving about the middle 

 of April and leaving us again in September. He 

 is very fond of sitting on and flitting about 

 the garden walls and the old trees, incessantly 

 flicking his tail when perched ; and in these places 

 he catches much of his insect food. His short 

 and rather monotonous song is at its best in the 

 early days of his stay with us. The nesting 

 season is in May. The nest is always placed 

 in a hole of some kind, either in a wall or a tree ; 

 and the observer will note with pleasure that a 

 certain spot is often returned to year after year. 

 The nest is somewhat loosely put together, and 

 made of moss, dry grass, hair, wool, and feathers. 

 The eggs, five or six in number, are about the 

 size of the Hedge Accentor's, and like them pure 

 and spotless blue, but not quite so dark in colour. 

 Still keeping to the park and the garden, we 

 shall meet with another little bird from far across 

 widely the sea, the SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (Muscicapa 

 ' grisola). This bird is readily distinguished by 

 his monotonous and oft-repeated notes of chee-tic, 

 chee-tic ; tic, tic, tic, as he sits quietly on some 

 bare bough or paling, and ever and anon rising 

 into the air in fluttering chase of passing insects. 

 His brown dress, palest on the breast, which is 

 streaked, is very unassuming ; but he will insist 

 on sitting on the most exposed places in his 

 haunt, rendering it almost impossible to pass him 

 by unnoticed. He is specially fond of sitting on 

 the drooping branches of the trees in the park, 

 the boughs where the cattle have browsed off the 

 leaves, as also on the park fence and the iron 



