XXV 
THE FLYCATCHING FAMILY 
(Tyrannide) } 
Larks may be scarce, but we have plenty of 
flycatchers, and they all look very much alike. 
They are mostly in dull colors, and they have a 
way of raising the head feathers which gives 
them a little crest. Then they have rather thick 
necks, and they sit up very straight on the perch. 
They catch living flies, as you see by the 
name, and they have their own way of doing it. 
No flycatcher ever scrambles around like a fussy 
little warbler, snatching a fly here and _ there. 
Far from it! It is a dignified family, and none 
of them ever seems to be in a hurry. 
The true flycatcher way to get a dinner is to 
sit still and wait. The very babies in the nest 
are patient little fellows. They never make half 
the row over their dinner that young robins do. 
They could give lessons in table manners to some 
young folks I have seen. And waiting seems to 
4 See Appendix, 18. 
