SPOTTED FLYCATCHER 91 
or owl, though not so vigorously or often. He 
has gained the name of the Butcher-bird from his 
well-known habit of spiking bees, beetles, and 
young birds on thorn-bushes till he needs them 
for home consumption ; these " larders," however, 
are by no means commonly met with, and are well 
worth careful examination when found. 
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 
(Muscicapa grzsola.) 
Beam-bird. — This is one of the most familiar 
of garden birds, in spite of its inconspicuous colours 
and almost voiceless habits. Its nest is one of the 
commonest to find, as summer advances, in some 
creeper, or corner of trellis-work, close beside our 
doors or windows, and most people know the 
bird*s conspicuous way of posting itself on the top 
of a stake or rail or prominent twig, and sallying 
forth time after time into the air to seize an insect 
before returning to its watch-tower again. This 
Flycatcher waits to arrive in this country until the 
warmth of spring has, or ought to have, hatched 
out its food of winged insects in plentiful abund- 
ance, and it is not often seen until nearly the 
middle of May. It begins to build about the 
close of the month, and its eggs are generally laid 
