SPOTTED FLYCATCHER 
MVSCICAPA (At I SO LA. 
THIS is one of the latest of our migratory birds to make its appearance in the spring, the middle oflh,(« 
even a week later) having usually arrived before its accustomed haunt is taken possession of. The date 
of its departure is early, the nature of its food probably necessitating a move across the Channel before the 
appearance of cold weather. It is seldom that one is observed after the beginning of October. 
In the south and over most parts of England this quiet and unpretending, though somewhat conspicuous, 
little bird may he found very generally distributed, though more or less plentiful in certain localities. In 
Scotland it is to be met with in many districts, its numbers growing scarcer towards the north. I have now 
and then come across a pair or two in some of the extensive pine-forests of Inverness, and on a few occasions 
in Ross-shire. 
In some parts of the eastern counties I have found this species known to the natives by its familiar title 
of “ Wall-bird in most districts in the south it also goes by the same name. It is frequently a matter of 
no slight difficulty to make out the derivation of some local names; in this instance, however, the reason 
is obvious. For nesting-purposes in these localities the Spotted Flycatcher generally resorts to a garden- 
wall, a situation being chosen either where a cavity is formed by the loss of a portion of a brick, or where 
sufficient space is afforded on the limb of some trained fruit-tree. It also occasionally places its nest on 
the arm of a fir or some other forest tree. 
Although in most parts of England this species frequents gardens and pleasure-grounds, and appears to 
prefer the vicinity of dwellings, in some of the northern counties it may be met with in the remotest districts. 
As its name implies, it gains its living by preying on insect life. According to some writers it is accused 
of occasionally making inroads on the produce of the fruit-trees ; I can, however, state nothing on this subject 
from my own experience. 
