268 



THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



BRITISH BIRDS, THEIR 

 NESTS AND EGGS. 



By S. L. Mosley. 

 22, SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 

 Muscicarpa griseola, Linn. 

 Y Gwybedog (Anct. Brit.) 

 Griseola, from gviseiis (L.) grey. 

 Size. — -Length, 5^ in. ; expanse, 7I in. 

 to 8 in. 



Plumage. — Bill nearly black ; the low- 

 er mandible yellow at the base, with a few 

 bristles about the mouth ; eyes hazel ; the 

 whole of the upper parts, including the tail, 

 are pale greyish brown ; under parts greyish 

 white, tinged with grey brown on the breast 

 and throat, where each feather has also a 

 dark stripe down the centre. Both sexes 

 are similar. 



The Immature or nest plumage, which 

 only lasts for a few weeks, has on the tip 

 of each feather a yellowish white spot. 



Varieties. — An alhino was captured some 

 years ago near Gravesend in Kent, and Mr. 

 Wood has one, very pale wood brown, with 

 the markings of a rufous colour, killed in 

 Sussex. Varieties, however, are rare. 



night. — This bird delights in the 

 vicinity of shady trees, where it flits about 

 in a kind of butterfly-like flight, incessantly 

 in quest of insect life. 



Migration. — a regular summer visitor 

 to this country, seldom reaching us before 

 the middle of May, and departing again 

 about the end of September. 



Food. — Consists almost entirely of flies 

 and other insects, but sometimes a few berries 

 such as those of the mountain ash, are eaten. 



In Confinement. — I know of no case of 

 this bird being kept in captivity. 



Habitat. — This bird is not uncommon 

 in most parts of England, Scotland, and 

 Ireland, but rarer in the north than in the 

 south. It frequents woods, orchards, plant- 

 ations, and similar places. 



Abroad. — It is found throughout Europe, 

 and in many parts of Africa, aad Asia. 

 Dresser says it is a regular visitant to west- 

 ern continental India. 



Nest. — The nest seems to be begun 

 immediately on the arrival of the birds at 

 their breeding places, and sometimes two 

 broods are reared in a season. It is com- 

 posed of moss, mixed with a few bits of 

 stick, dry leaves or roots, lined with fine 

 grsss and horsehair, sometimes also with a 

 few feathers. Mr. Bond has one with the 

 outer parts formed principally of fine sea- 

 weeds, and lined with feathers, dried grasses, 

 and hair, taken in the Isle of Wight. But 

 the prettiest nest he ever saw was composed 

 almost entirely of dead flowering racemes of 

 the evergreen oak, the lining of hair and dried 

 grasses. This nest was taken at Hampstead. 

 Generally the site chosen is among a few 

 small branches against the bole of a tree, or 

 in a tree trained against a house side ; but 

 sometimes very odd situations are made 

 choice of ; such, for instance, as tops of lamp- 

 posts, in inverted tree pots, various places in 

 and about outhouses, or on a beam in a cow- 

 house. On one occasion a nest was placed 

 on a hoe which hung in a shed. When the 

 hoe was wanted the nest was taken down 

 and replaced again when the implement was 

 done with ; an arrangement to which the 

 bird did not seem to object, for it reared a 

 brood of young (Zool., p. 3577;. I once 

 found a flycatcher's nest placed inside that 

 of a thrush upon the ledge of a rock in 

 North Yorkshire. The thrush's nest con- 

 tained two eggs under the other nest, and it 

 would almost seem as if the flycatchers had 

 taken forcible possession. Gilbert White 

 relates an instance of a pair having built 

 upon a naked bough, and that when the 

 hottest weather came on, the heat of the sun 

 was enough to have scorched the young 

 brood, had not the old birds had the sagacity 

 to hover above the nest during the hottest 

 parts of the day, panting for breath them- 



