THE SINGING BIRDS. 169 



still under parental guidance are they met with in parties; at other times they are found in pairs, 

 that keep apart from each other, and exhibit most determined pertinacity in driving off all intruders 

 from the haunts they have appropriated. The nests are built in a great variety of situations — in holes 

 of rocks, walls, or roofs, in hollow trunks of trees, or on a branch quite close against the main stem ; 

 brushwood or low clumps of old willows, however, afford the seclusion these birds prefer. Green 

 moss, fine dry fibres, and similar materials are usually employed in constructing the somewhat 

 carelessly-formed domicile, which is warmly lined with horsehair, wool, and feathers. The female 

 alone undertakes the whole labour of building. Instances are recorded of the nest of this species 

 being found in very odd situations. We have heard of one built in the head of a garden-rake that 

 had been left standing against a wall ; another was seen by Mr. Atkinson, on the angle of a lamp- 

 post in one of the streets of London ; and a third, mentioned by both Jesse and Yarrell, occupied 

 a still more remarkable position — namely, within the crown of one of the lamps in Portland Place, 

 in London. 



Should a couple not be disturbed, they produce but one brood of four or five eggs in the year ; 

 these are laid in June, and have a blueish or blueish green shell, very variously marked with light 

 rust-red. Both parents assist in the work of incubation, and hatch the eggs within a fortnight. The 

 young grow rapidly, but remain for a long time under the care of their parents. 



A curious circumstance concerning this bird is recorded by Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., 

 President of the Horticultural Society, namely, that — " A Fly-catcher that had built in a stove in one 

 of the green-houses in the Society's gardens was always observed to leave its nest when the ther- 

 mometer stood at 7 2 , and resumed its place upon the eggs as soon as the temperature fell again 

 below that point." 



Naumann mentions a little incident that came under his notice, that will illustrate the utility 

 of these birds in the great scheme of Nature. " A boy in our village," he says, " succeeded in 

 obtaining a Fly-catcher's nest before the young were fledged, and placed the little family, including 

 the mother, in a room in his house. No sooner had the parent bird ascertained that all attempts to 

 escape were hopeless, than she at once set to work to feed her young with the flies that were winging 

 their flight about the chamber. Of course before long all these were consumed, and the boy was 

 compelled to carry his prize to a neighbour's cottage, in order that they might procure a supply of 

 food. In this manner the useful family went the round of the village, clearing the houses of vast 

 numbers of troublesome guests. My turn came last, and in gratitude for the benefit received I 

 succeeded in obtaining liberty for both mother and nestlings." 



Despite the immense services rendered by these birds, they and their eggs are constantly 

 destroyed by boys and men, who are too ignorant or unthinking to know and appreciate the benefits 

 they confer upon us ; large numbers also fall victims to the attacks of cats, martens, rats, and mice. 

 The Fly-catcher is easily reared, and soon so completely adapts itself to captivity that it may be 

 allowed to fly at large about a room. If provided with a small box filled with sand, in which an 

 upright stick is placed with another laid across, it prefers perching upon the latter to any other 

 situation, and never in any way injures the furniture of the apartment. One of these birds kept by 

 ourselves was fed during several successive winters upon rolls soaked in milk, and finely-minced 

 meat ; upon this diet it became remarkably tame, and, although liberated every spring, regularly- 

 returned to us at the end of the warm season. 



The MOURNING FLY-CATCHERS {Afuscicapa) differ from those members of their family 

 already described in the shortness of their beak, which is almost triangular, in the inferior size of 

 their wings, and in the diversity of plumage that distinguishes the sexes. 

 vol. it. — 61 



