42 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



sake, but there are a few important points in which the 

 two birds differ very widely. 



Perhaps the most striking distinction is the almost 

 invariable rule observed by the Pied Flycatcher in building 

 its nest, the holes in decayed trees (generally oaks or 

 pollards) being the spots selected for this purpose. 



The bird also evinces a noticeable love for one particular 

 nesting- place, and a well-known ornithologist mentions a 

 case, coming under his own observation, in which a pair of 

 Pied Flycatchers had bred in exactly the same place for 

 four successive years. 



The nest is an assemblage of thin roots, dried grass, 

 leaves, and hair ; the eggs are about eight lines and a half 

 in length, and six and a half in width ; the colour is a 

 uniform pale blue ; the eggs vary considerably both as 

 regards number and appearance ; as many as eight have been 

 found, but this is above the average. 



The nest, as already stated, is very often placed in the 

 hole of some decayed oak, or pollard tree, and the bird is, 

 (especially when the young are hatched) exceedingly noisy 

 and clamorous when any one approaches its domicile too 

 closely. The young are usually hatched by the beginning 

 or middle of June. The song of the male bird is varied 

 and pleasing, and somewhat resembles that of the Red- 

 start. 



The Pied Flycatcher is most plentiful in the neighbour- . 

 hood of the Cumberland and Westmoreland lakes; specimens 

 have also been found with more or less frequency in many 

 other portions of Great Britain, but it is far oftener met 

 with, during migration, on the east coast than the south. 

 Indeed, as a matter of fact, it is very seldom met with on 

 the south coast. 



