38 



NEST AND EGGS OF THE SPOTTED 

 FLY-CATCHER. 



PLATE XXXVIII. 



These birds build their nests in low places, amongst 

 trees, in fruit-gardens, or near some precipice, where 

 they are secure from wind and weather. 



The nest before me was built on the ledge of a rock, 

 overhung with trees and bushes. It was placed amongst, 

 and partly hidden by, the growing leaves of the great 

 -^ hairy wood-rush. 



The outside of the nest is composed of various 

 kinds of moss, grass, stubble, and stalks of dried plants. 

 The inside, or lining, is made of the same materials, 

 but softer and finer, and mixed with a few roots and 

 black hairs. It is a loose mean structure. The di- 

 araeter of the cavity is about two inches, the depth less 

 than an inch. 



Six eggs were in this nest. They are large for the size 

 of the bird. The ground colour is white, and they are 

 all over splashed with spots of a pale red. 



The Fly-catcher is a bird of passage, comes to us 

 about the end of April, and leaves us again in October. 

 The cock ceases to sing about the end of June. His 

 song has some resemblance of that of the blackcap, 

 but his notes are fewer, less brisk, and less varied. 

 The Fly-Catcher feeds on spiders, small beetles, and 

 various kinds of small flies. 



* Juncus sylvaticus. 



