5*6 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



parks, although its sombre plumage, and its habit of perching high up on trees, 

 render it far from conspicuous. Variously placed, the nest of this species may be 

 situated on an ivy-clad wall, in the middle of a shrub, or upon wooded rocks over- 

 hanging rivers, while it has been found in the hole of a tree, in a flower-basket 

 hanging at a window, and even in an empty cup. The nest is made of moss, grass, 

 and horsehair, and the eggs are white, much blotched and suffused with light red. 

 Although not disdaining larger insects, the parent birds feed their offspring chiefly 

 on flies, caught in the well-known manner characteristic of the group. In the 

 adult cock the plumage of the upper-parts is uniform brown, with dark central 



SPOTTED AND PIED FLYCATCHERS (g liat. size). 



Pied Flycatcher. 



lines to the feathers of the crown of the head ; the wings and tail are likewise 

 brown; while the sides of the head and under-parts are dull white, the breast 

 being streaked with grey. 



Spending the summer in central and northern Europe, and passing 

 on migration through the Spanish peninsula in April, the pied fly- 

 catcher (M. atricajnlla) associates its presence with scenes of picturesque beauty 

 in many lands. The male possesses a sweet song, which commences like that 

 of the great tit, and then passes into a sweet strain suggestive of that of the 

 common redstart. The constancy with which a pair of pied flycatchers will often 

 return to the same nesting-hole, during a period of several successive years, is one 

 of the most remarkable traits in its character. The nest is sometimes built in a 



