83 A MIDLAND TILLAGE: GAEDBN AND MEADOW. 



the prize won. The muscular power of the bird is as well 

 shown by this feat, as his perseverance and sagacity by the dis- 

 covery of the trick ; for holding on by his prehensile claws to 

 the edge of the tumbler, he contrived to seize with his bill a 

 large nut placed in the bottom of it, without any assistance 

 from his wings ; the length of the tumbler being little less than 

 that of the bird. But after all, this was no more than a mo- 

 mentary use of the same posture in which he is often to be seen, 

 as he runs down the trunks of trees in search of insects. 



The spotted Flycatcher is another little bird which abounds 

 in our gardens and orchards ; it is always pleasant to watch, 

 and its nest is easy to find. One pair had the audacity to build 

 on the wall of the village school : it was much as if a human 

 being should take up his residence in a tiger's jungle, but if I 

 recollect right, the eggs and young escaped harm. Another pair 

 placed their nest on a sun-dial in Col. Barrow's garden, as late 

 as mid-July. This Flycatcher is the latest of all the summer 

 migrants to arrive on our shores ; the males and females seem to 

 come together and begin the work of nesting at once, i.e. in the 

 middle of May ; if the nest is taken, as was probably the case 

 with this pair, the second brood would not be hatched till July. 

 The bird is singularly silent, never getting beyond an oft- 

 repeated and half-whispered phrase, which consists of three 

 notes, or rather soimds, and no more; the fii'st is higher and 

 louder than the others, which are to my mind much like that 

 curious sound of disappointment or anxiety which we produce 

 by applying the tongue to the roof of the mouth, and then 

 suddenly withdrawing it. But is the Flycatcher always and ' 



