XXXII 

 INDIAN FLY-CATCHERS 



THERE exist in the Indian Empire no fewer 

 than fifty-one species of fly-catcher. This 

 fact speaks volumes for the wealth of both 

 the bird and the insect population of 

 India. Fly-catchers are little birds that feed ex- 

 clusively on insects, which they secure on the wing. 

 Their habit is to take up a strategic position on some 

 perch, usually the bare branch of a tree, whence they 

 make sallies into the air after their quarry. Having 

 secured the object of their sortie — and this they never 

 fail to do — they return to their perch. A fly-catcher 

 will sometimes make over a hundred of these Httle 

 flights in the course of an hour ; the appetite of an 

 insectivorous bird appears to be insatiable. All fly- 

 catchers obtain their food in this manner, but all 

 birds which behave thus are not members of the 

 fly-catcher family. As fly-catchers are characterised 

 by rather weak legs, and, in consequence, do not 

 often descend to the ground, they are of necessity 

 confined to parts of the country well supplied with 

 trees. Thus it comes to pass that the great majority 

 of^ fly-catchers are found only in well-wooded hill 



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