BRITISH BIRDS® 197 
female lays four or five eggs, marked with fmall 
rufty fpots $ the nefl is carelefsly made, and confifts 
/Chiefly of mofs, frequently mixed with wool and 
•ftrong fibres, fo large, fays Buffon, that it appears 
furprizing how fo fmall an artificer could make ufe 
of fuch flubborn materials. This bird feeds on 
infe&s, which it catches on the wing ; it fome- 
times watches for its prey, fitting on a branch or 
poll, and, with a hidden fpring, takes it as it flies, 
and immediately returns to its flat ion to wait for 
more ; it is likewife fond of cherries. Mr Lath- 
am fays, it is known in Kent by the name of the 
Cherry-fucker. It has no fong, but only a fort of 
inward wailing note, when it perceives any danger 
to itfelf or young : It breeds only once, and re- 
tires early. When -its young are able to fly, it re- 
tires with them to the woods, where it fports with 
them among the higher branches, finking and riling 
often perpendicularly among the flies which hum 
below. 
