324 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
tween England and Wales, and in several districts in the latter 
principality. In Scotland it becomes scarcer, but has ap- 
parently nested in Inverness-shire, and has even occurred in the 
Orkney Islands on migration. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The Pied Flycatcher breeds 
in most of the countries throughout Europe and North Africa, 
extending up to 69° N. lat. in Scandinavia, 65° in Finland, 
and 6o° in the Ural Mountains, its eastern breeding range 
being limited, according to Mr. Seebohm, by 70° E. long. 
In winter it visits North-eastern Africa and Senegambia. 
Note. — The Collared Flycatcher, Ficedula col/aris, has also been re- 
corded as a British bird, but apparently on insufficient evidence. 
Habits. — The Pied Flycatcher returns to its northern breed- 
ing home before the Spotted Flycatcher, and arrives towards 
the end of April. Although so differently coloured from the 
latter bird, its habits are very similar \ and it frequents gardens 
on the Continent, but in England it is a bird of the wilder dis- 
tricts as a rule. Its food consists almost entirely of insects, 
but it also feeds on worms and berries at certain seasons. Its 
song is feeble and short, and like that of a Redstart. 
Nest. — Made of grass, leaves, and feathers, with sometimes a 
little wool and hair added. It is always placed under cover, 
in a hole of a tree, or more rarely in a crevice of a wall or 
rock. 
Eggs. — From four to eight, the last number being by no 
means uncommon, of a pale blue, perfectly spotless. Axis, 
o'j-o'8 inch ; diam., o'55-o - 6. Though coloured like those 
of the Hedge-Sparrow, the eggs of the Pied Flycatcher are 
smaller, and the shell is more fragile. 
THE RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHERS. GENUS SIPITIA. 
Siphia , Hodgson, Ind. Review, i., p. 651 (1839). 
Type, A. strophrala (Hodgson). 
This genus contains three species, which have been placed 
by ourselves and most ornithologists in the genus Muscicapa. 
Mr. Oates, however, one of the most careful systematic 
