PIED FLYCATCHER. 



821 



the outer web : t^e under parts of the bird, from 

 chin to tail, are white : the tail is dusky black 5 

 the two exterior feathers white on their outer 

 webs, and near the shaft on the inner webs, ex- 

 cept at the point : the legs are black : the female 

 has no white on the forehead : the w^hole upper 

 parts are dusky brown ; the under parts dirty 

 white : in the wings the white is less conspicuous 

 than in the male. 



These birds are subject to great variety : they 

 are sometimes found mixed with grey on the 

 upper parts, or spotted with white on the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts ; others have white on the 

 exterior feathers of the tail ; some have only the 

 outer feathers marked with white ; there is another 

 variety that has the white passing round the neck 

 like a collar. 



The young birds at first greatly resemble the 

 female, and in their change of plumage the males 

 have all the intermediate changes from brown to 

 black. 



It is found but rarely in this country, and ap* 

 pears to be very local, only making its appearance 

 in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire ; in the 

 former it is most common: it affects wild and 

 uncultivated tracts of furze, and places where 

 th^re are not many trees : its nest is constructed 

 in the hole of a tree, and is composed of dry 

 leaves mixed with broad pieces of bark, a little 

 hay, and a few long hairs, with three or four 

 feathers for a lining : its eggs are five in number, 

 of a very pale blue, about the size and colour of 



