324, FLYCATCHERS. 
This, bird is fond of haunting parks, gardens, meadows, and shrubberies, 
always choosing those spots where flies are most common, and attacning 
itself to the same perch for many days in succession. When the Flycatcher 
inhabits any place where it has been accustomed to live undisturbed, it is a 
remarkably trustful bird, and perinits the near approach of man, even avail- 
ing itself of his assistance. 
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 than one occasion been selected for the purpose, 
and in one instance the nest retained its position although the door was 
repeatedly opened and closed, until a more severe shock than ordinary 
shook the eggs out of the nest and broke them. It is fond of selecting 
some human habitation for the locality in which it builds its nest, and its 
titles of Beam Bird and Wall Bird have been given to it because it is in the 
habit of making its home on beams or in the holes of walls. The branches 
of a pear, apricot, vine, or honeysuckle are favourite resorts of the Spotted 
Flycatcher, when the tree has been trained against a wall. 
‘rhe nest is generally round and cup-shaped, and is made of fine grasses, 
moss, roots, hair, and feathers, the harder materials forming the walls of the 
nest, and the softer being employed as lining. 
The eggs of the Spotted Flycatcher are four or five in number, and their 
colour is a very pale bluish white, spotted with ruddy speckles. As the nest 
is made at so late a period of the year, being but just begun when some 
birds have hatched their first brood, there is not often more than a singl: 
family in the course of the season. Sometimes, however, it has been know, 
to hatch and rear a second brood in safety. 
The general coleur of the Spotted Flycatcher is a delicate brown on the 
upper parts of the body, the quill feathers of the wings and tail being, as is 
usually the case, of a blacker hue than the feathers of the back. There are 
a few dark spots on the top of the head, and the tertial feathers of the wings 
are edged with light brown. The breast is white, with a patch of very light 
dull brown across its upper portion, and both the chin and breast are marked 
with dark brown longitudinal streaks, 
THE other species of British Flycatchers is much more rare than the bird 
just described, and may easily be distinguished from it by the peculiarity of 
plumage, from which it derives its popular title. The PIED FLYCATCHER 
has been observed in most parts of England, but seems to be of very rare 
occurrence, except in the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, where 
it is found in the vicinity of the lakes. 
The colouring of this birdis as follows: In the adult male, the top of the 
head, back of the neck, back, and wings, are dark blackish brown, with the 
exception of a white patch upon the forehead, and a broad stripe of white 
on the tertiary and greater wing-coverts. The tail is black, except some bold 
white marks on some of the outer feathers, and the whole of the under 
surface is pure white. The female is of a delicate brown on the upper parts 
of the body, and those portions which in the male are pure white are in the 
female of a dull whitish grey. In dimensions the bird is not equal to the 
Spotted Flycatcher, barely exceeding five inches in total length. 
A SMALL but interesting group of birds has been designated by the name of 
Ampeline, or Chatterers, in allusion to the loquacity for which some of the 
species are remarkable. They all have a wide mouth, opening nearly as far 
as the eyes, but without the bristly appendages which so often accompany a 
large extent of gape. 
One well-known species, the WAXEN CHATTERER, is a tolerably frequent 
visitor of England, though it cannot be reckoned among the common British 
