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THE SPOTTED FLY-0 AT CHER. 
received several local names in allusion to its habits, the titles Wall Bird and Beam Bird 
being those by which it is most frequently designated. It is one of the migrating birds, arriv- 
ing in northern countries at a rather late season, being seldom seen before the middle or even 
towards the end of May. The reason for this late arrival is probably that, if the bird were to 
make an earlier appearance, the flying insects on which it feeds would not be hatched in suffi- 
cient numbers to insure a proper supply of food for itself and young. It has a rather wide 
range of locality, having been observed in different parts of Europe, and extending its flight 
even to Southern Africa. 
This bird is fond of haunting parks, gardens, meadows, and shrubberies, always choosing 
those spots where flies are most common, and attaching itself to the same perch for many 
SPOTTED and PIED FLY-CATCHER.— Muscicapa grisola and atricapilla. 
days in succession. When the Fly-catcher inhabits any place where it has been accustomed 
to live undisturbed, it is a remarkably trustful bird, and permits the near approach of man, 
even availing itself of his assistance. 
I well remember a curious instance of this exceeding tameness on the part of one of these 
birds. In the grounds of a large estate I was sitting in a gig, waiting for a friend, and as the 
sun was shining very powerfully, I moved the vehicle under the shade of a tree. On one of the 
lower branches a Fly-catcher was sitting, watching the flies, and occasionally fluttering in chase 
of an insect, and then returning to its post in true Fly-catcher fashion. After watching the 
bird for some little time, I struck with my whip at a clover-blossom, thereby starting a number 
of flies, which rose into the air. To my surprise, the bird instantly left the branch, darted among 
the flies, captured one of them, and returned to its perch. I again drove some flies into the 
air with the whip, and again the bird came and snapped them up within stroke of the lash. 
This proceeding was continued until my friend rejoined me and we drove away, leaving the 
bird in sole possession. 
The Spotted Fly-catcher builds a very neatly made nest, and is in the habit of fixing its 
home in the most curious and unsuspected localities. The hinge of a door has on more than one 
occasion been selected for the purpose, and in one instance the nest retained its position although 
the door was repeatedly opened and closed, until a more severe shock than ordinary shook 
