NATURAL HISTORY. 



Family III. . . Muscicapidsc. (Gr. Musca, a Fly ; capio, I take. Fly- 

 catcher kind.) 

 Sub-family a, Muscicapince. 



MUSCICAPA. 



Grisola, the Spotted Fit/catcher. 



station on some elevated spot, such as the overhanging bough 

 of a tree, a post, or a rail, and from thence watches for a 

 passing insect, on seeing which, it darts from its post, secures 

 the insect in the air, and returns to the same spot by a short 

 circular flight. It is not a timid bird, and will permit an 

 observer to stand quite close to it provided that he does not 

 disturb it. 1 * It is only a summer visitor to England, arriving 

 in May and departing about the beginning of October. The 

 note of this bird is a weak chirp, and even that is not often 

 heard. 



The nest is built usually in holes of trees or walls, or 

 sometimes between a branch of a wall-fruit tree and the wall 

 itself. The eggs are five in number, spotted with reddish 

 brown on a grey ground. The length of the bird is about 

 five inches. 



* I saw one of these birds engaged in the pursuit of flies in a garden atHeadington. 

 Tt perched on a balustrade close to a window from which several persons were 

 watching it, and continued its evolutions perfectly undisturbed by their proximity. 



