Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE SONG BIRDS
THE FLYCATCHERS
European Pied Flycatcher
Closely related is the Pied Flycatcher (M. atricapilla), also of Europe generally, though rare and local in the British Islands, which has the upper parts mainly deep black and the lower parts pure white. It arrives earlier than the last, and is rather more of a forest-haunting bird and not so commonly found about human habitations. It has a soft witt, witt, as a call note, and a short, melancholy song which is said to somewhat resemble that of the Redstart (Ruticilla), but otherwise the habits are like those of its relatives. The eggs, however, are more numerous, sometimes numbering as many as eight, and they are pale, usually unspotted blue. Of similar habits but differing in having a white collar is the White-collared Flycatcher (M. collaris) of central and southern Europe, but of quite different appearance is the Red-breasted Flycatcher (M. parva), which has the chin, throat, and upper breast rusty orange. This little species is usually found in”groves and woods, especially when beech and fir trees are intermingled,”and is much shyer than the others, spending most of the time among the higher branches of the trees. It is said to have a clear, rather sweet song which resembles that of the Wood Wren; it is very persistently uttered. The nest is almost always placed in a hollow tree and at no great distance above the ground, the five to seven eggs being white closely spotted with reddish.
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