MED: ny ro. THE? LAND: BIRDS, rag 
PERCHING BIRDS. — Passeres. 
Brie Vanaple: 
Tors. — Four, on a level; hind 
toe as long as middle toe, and 
having usually the longest nail 
of them all. 
Tatu. — Of twelve feathers. 
: BriLu. — Broad and flat, hooked at the 
= point. 
Foop. — Insects caught on the wing. 
‘ 
The Flycatchers are summer birds. They perch on 
the limbs of trees, and rarely visit the ground. In 
color and size they strongly resemble the Vireos, but 
may be known by the following marks : 
1. A Flycatcher sits upright and motionless on the 
end of a dead limb, waiting for an insect to fly by. 
He catches it on the wing, and generally returns to 
the same perch. 
A Vireo hops busily from branch to branch, search- 
ing for insects under the leaves, or in the crevices of 
the bark. 
2. The Flycatcher’s head and sides are of the same 
color, without stripes or light lines. 
The Vireos have a whitish lne above or sometimes 
around the eye. 
3. On close observation it may be seen that the 
Flyeatcher’s bill is broad and flat, beset with long 
bristles, while the Vireo’s bill is narrow and heii 
without bristles. 
40. KINGBIRD. Tyrannus tyrannus. —Length, 
84 inches. Gray above, darker on wing and tail; an 
orange spot half hidden on the top of the head; un- 
derparts white. The favorite haunts of the Kingbird 
are orchards, and dead limbs on the edges of meadows, 
