THE TRUE FLYCATCHERS. 
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the three kingdoms, becoming rarer in the north, and seldom 
reaching the Orkneys and Shetland Islands, where it occurs 
only as a straggler. 
Range outside tie Britisl Islands. — The Spotted Flycatcher 
breeds almost everywhere in Europe, including all the Mediter- 
ranean countries, as far east as Persia and Siberia and Turkestan. 
According to Mr.Seebohm its eastern breeding range is bounded 
by iio° E. long. In Scandinavia it is found as far north as 
Tromso, and also at Archangel, but does not occur far north 
in the Urals, though it is found at Krasnoyarsk. In winter 
it is met with in North-western India, and in Africa, as far 
south as Natal, migrating by the Nile Valley and down the east 
coast. In Western Africa it is also an abundant winter visi- 
tant, and occurs in most collections from the Gold Coast. It 
probably migrates along the west coast of Africa, following the 
course of the rivers, as the late Mr. Jameson piocured a 
specimen in the far interior at Yambuya, on the Aruwhimi 
River. 
Habits. — The Spotted Flycatcher is a very late arrival in 
Great Britain, ana comes to us some time after the bulk of the 
summer migrants have landed on our shores, appearing 
generally in the month of May, though earlier records of its 
visits in spring are related. In the summer it is a noticeable 
bird, and in most places a tame and familar species, taking up 
its abode in sheltered situations, and nesting in the verandahs 
and trellis-work on houses. A shelter seems indispensable to 
the Flycatcher’s nest, and it builds the latter under the shade 
of overhanging creepers round a house, or in the crevice of the 
bark of a fruit-tree, where an overhanging bough protects the 
nest. As a rule the Flycatcher is seen in the open, sitting on 
a warden-fence, orchard-rail, or the bare branch of a tree, from 
which it sallies forth in pursuit of its insect food, generally re- 
turning to the perch from which it started. As a rule, the bird 
flies down on its prey and takes it in the air or off the ground, 
by a direct flight, but if the quarry is pursued for some distance, 
it is interesting to observe the way in which the Flycatcher 
turns and doubles in its flight after an insect. The food of the 
present species consists almost entirely of insects, flies, gnats, 
beetles, etc., but in the autumn it is said to feed on berries, 
