ON THE PIED FLYCATCHER. 151 
near, and there manifested their anxiety by notes and 
actions expressive of extreme uneasiness. After having 
been severely stung, the nestlings fluttered to the 
mouth of the aperture and fell to the ground, 
where they all perished, their bodies being much 
swollen. 
Towards the close of April 1844 the same pair of 
birds returned to their favourite breeding-haunt, and 
repeatedly visited the aperture so long occupied by 
their nest; but being again assailed by the bees, 
which had removed to a parallel aperture on the other 
side of the portico, it is probable that the incident 
recalled the destruction of their progeny in the pre- 
ceding year; for they eventually deserted the place, 
and selected a hole in a low stone wall by the side of 
the avenue leading to the house, in which they con- 
structed a nest and brought up their young. 
This instance (and other cases might be adduced) 
evidently tends to show that the Pied Flycatcher re- 
sorts annually to the same locality for the purpose of 
continuing its species, and that, like its congener the 
Spotted Flycatcher, it is a very familar bird during 
the breeding-season. ‘ 
