856 ' THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER 



the young being so different in form and colour, that each was set down as a distinct 

 species. It is now known that the long-tailed birds, of whatever colour they may be, 

 are the adults of either sex, while the comparatively short-tailed bird is the young male 

 or female. When these distinctions are once known, it is very easy to discriminate 

 between the birds, the white long-tailed bird being always the adult male, the reddish buff 

 long-tailed bird the adult female, and the short-tailed bird the young male or female, as 

 the case may be. 



The colouring of this species is remarkably bold and pleasing, and may be briefly 

 described as follows. 



The head and crest of the male are bright steely green, and the whole of the upper 

 surface is pure white, curiously streaked with a narrow black line down the centre of each 

 feather. The primary quill-feathers of the wings are jetty l^lack with a narrow edge 

 of white, and the secondaries are also black, edged with white on both webs. The 

 beautiful tail is more than double the length of the body, as it measures thirteen or 

 fourteen inches in length, while the bird itself is only some six inches long. The colour 

 of the tail-feathers is pure white, with black shafts, except the two central feathers, where 

 the black colour of the shaft only extends half their length. The whole of the under 

 surface is white. The adult female has the head and neck feathers steely green as in the 

 male, but not of quite so brilliant a hue. The back and tail are ruddy chestnut, the throat, 

 breast, and nape of the neck are dark grey, and the abdomen and remainder of the under 

 parts are white. The young bird is coloured like the female, but the white of the abdomen 

 is tinged with buff. 



On account of the peculiar shape of this species, it is sometimes called the 

 Eocket Bird. 



England possesses some examples of the Flycatchers, the two birds represented in 

 the illustration being familiar to every one who has noticed the manners and customs 

 of native birds. 



The Spotted Flycatcher is by far the more common of the two species, and has 

 received several local names in allusion to its habits, the titles Wall Bird and Beam 

 Bird being those by which it is most frequently designated. It is one of the migrating 

 birds, arriving in this country at a rather late season, being seldom seen before the middle 

 or even towards the end of May. The reason for this late arrival is probably that, if the 

 bird were to make an earlier appearance, the flying insects on which it feeds would not 

 be hatched in sufficient numbers to insure a proper supply of food for itself and young. 

 It is a common bird throughout the whole of England and Ireland, and is also seen, but 

 not so frequently, in Scotland. It has a rather wide range of locality, having been 

 observed in different parts of Europe, and extending its flight even to Southern Africa. 



This bird is fond of haunting parks, gardens, meadows, and shrubberies, always 

 choosing those spots where flies are most common, and attaching itseK to the same 

 perch for many days in succession. AVhen the Flycatcher inhabits any place where it 

 has been accustomed to live undisturbed, it is a remarkably trustful bird, and permits the 

 near approach of man, even availing itself of his assistance. 



I well remember a curious instance of this exceeding tameness on the part of one of 

 these birds. In the grounds of a large estate in Oxfordshire, I was sitting in a gig, 

 waiting for a friend, and as the sun was shining very powerfully, I moved the veliicle 

 under the shade of a tree. On one of the lower branches a Flycatcher was sitting, 

 watching the flies, and occasionally fluttering in chase of an insect, and then returning to 

 its post in true Flycatcher fashion. After watching the bird for some little time, I struck 

 with the whip at a clover blossom, thereby starting a number of flies, which rose into the 

 air. To my surprise, the bird instantly left the branch, darted among the flies, captured 

 one of them, and returned to its perch. I again drove some flies into the air with the 

 whip, and again the bird came and snapped them up within stroke of the lash. This 

 proceeding was continued until my friend rejoined me and we drove away, leaving the bird 

 in sole possession. 



The Spotted Flycatcher builds a very neatly made nest, and is in the habit of fixing its 

 home in the most curious and unsuspected localities. The hinge of a door has on more 



