272 FRUTICICOLA. BUSHCIIAT. 



gin, their edges bare and crenate. External aperture of the 

 ear large, and roundish. 



The general form is rather compact ; the body ovate and 

 rather full, the neck short, the head rather large, ovate and 

 convex above. The legs of moderate length, and slender ; 

 tarsus of moderate length, slender, much compressed, covered 

 anteriorly with a long plate and four anterior scutella, poste- 

 riorly with two long plates meeting at an extremely acute 

 angle. Toes rather short, slender, the second and fourth 

 about equal, the first strongest and longer, the third much 

 longer, and united to the fourth as far as the second joint of 

 the latter. Claws long, moderately arched, extremely compress- 

 ed, laterally grooved, tapering to an extremely acute point. 



Plumage soft and blended, the feathers ovate, with very 

 loose filaments, and slender plumule. Wings short, curved, 

 broad, semi-ovate ; quills eighteen ; the first primary ex- 

 tremely small, being about a fourth of the length of the se- 

 cond, which is shorter than the third, the latter about equal 

 to the fourth, the fifth scarcely shorter ; the primaries rounded, 

 the secondaries broad, and obliquely rounded. Tail short, 

 nearly even, the feathers rather narrow, obliquely rounded. 

 The feathers about the base of the bill are bristle-tipped, and 

 the bristle-feathers are rather large. 



This genus diifers little from Saxicola, and one of its species, 

 Fruticicola Rubetra, has the point of the wing nearly of the same 

 form as Saxicola CEnanthe. The bill is shorter and broader, 

 the tarsi shorter, the wings also shorter, and moreover curved, 

 as is the case with the tail. The whole form is more abbre- 

 viated, with the plumage more tufty and of looser texture. 

 While the Saxicolse inhabit open pastures and betake them- 

 selves to stony and rocky places, making their nests in holes, 

 the Fruticicolas prefer bushy places, perch on the twigs, whence 

 they sally forth in pursuit of insects like the Flycatchers, and 

 place their nest on the ground under a shrub. Their nearest 

 allies are the Saxicolre, Sialiae, Phoenicuri, and Muscicapse. 



Two species occur in Britain, one migratory, the other resi- 

 dent. They are found chiefly on heaths, commons, and wastes 

 overgrown with juniper, furze, brambles, sloes, and other shrubs. 



