34i 



THE PIED FLYCATCHER IN NORTHUMBERLAND. 



ALFRED CRAWHALL CHAPMAN. 



That the Pied Flycatcher {Muscicapa atricapilld) is a regular summer 

 visitant to this country is sufficiently well known, but in Northum- 

 berland it is distinctly scarce, and not until this year (1886) have I 

 had an opportunity of studying it at its breeding-place. 



On the 23rd May last I visited a certain locality in Northum- 

 berland with a view of seeing this bird, and was well rewarded 

 by seeing no less than six males and three females between the 

 hours of 4 and 8 a.m. During the course of the day I came across 

 two other males in a different locality, so that in all I counted eight 

 males and nearly as many females in one day's walk. 



I was very anxious to find a nest of this species, and though I 

 spent hours in watching the bird, it was only by the merest good 

 fortune that I succeeded in watching one hen to her nest. It was 

 evidently- early in the season for them to be breeding, and I confi- 

 dently believe that with the exception of one pair, none of the others 

 had as yet any thought of nidification. 



After 8 o'clock in the morning any attempts at nes't-building 

 seemed to cease altogether, for though up to that time both male and 

 female were constantly carrying dry grasses to a certain tiny hole in the 

 wing- wall of a bridge over a small stream, yet after this the hole seemed 

 to be deserted altogether, and not even the birds were to be seen in 

 the vicinity of the nest. 



Evidently, therefore, one pair was building, and I was well pleased 

 with the result of this day's observation. 



The notes I made at the time impressed me with the apparently 

 delicate nature of these birds' constitutions, but this was doubtless 

 due to the fact that they had only recently arrived in this country, 

 and were fatigued with their long journey. The cocks nearly always 

 sat with drooping wings and fluffed out body feathers, though at the 

 same time they were busily engaged all day feeding on the flies along 

 the stream-side. They constantly kept uttering their pretty little song, 

 which reminded me rather of that of the Hedge Sparrow, but the tone 

 was much more mellow • at times, also, it seemed to resemble the 

 song of the Whitethroat and Reed Bunting. When perched they 

 have a habit of gently flirting the tail up and down, and they seemed 

 equally at home whether sitting on the ground, or on a stone in mid- 

 stream, or perched on the topmost branches of the trees. I once 

 watched one bathe himself, and, after carefully drying and preening 

 his feathers in the sun, recommence feeding. 



Nov. 1886. 



