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FAMILY MUSClCAPINiE. 



FLYCATCHERS. 



GENUS MUSCICAPA — LINN. 



FJ.YCATCHER. 



[Bill of moderate length, stout, broad at the base — upper mandible inflected 

 at lip, notched — long bristles at base ; head rather large, upper part broad ; neck 

 short ; wings rather long ; tarsi about equal to the middle toe — slender ; feet 

 short, toes slender, hind toe stronger.] 



MUSCICAPA TYRANNUS— LINN. 



TYRANT FLYCATCHER. 



Tyrant Flycatcher, Mnscicapa Tyrannus, Wils. Amer. Orn. 

 Muscicapa tyrannus, Bonap Syn. 



King Bird, or Tyrant Flycatcher, Muscicapa tyrannus, Nutt. Man. 

 Tyrant Flycatcher, Muscicapa tyrannus, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — A concealed patch of bright vermilion on 

 the crown ; tail broadly tipped with white. Adult with the bill 

 stout, blackish-brown ; throat and upper portion of the fore neck 

 white ; sides of the body dusky, breast tinged with the same ; rest 

 of the lower parts white ; head black, with a concealed patch of 

 bright vermilion ; upper parts bluish-gray, with the wings dark 

 brown, the ends of the first two quills attenuated; the outer mar- 

 gins and tips of the primaries dull white, those of the seconda- 

 ries more broadly marked with the same ; tail brownish-black, 

 broadly tipped with white, the outer webs of the outer feathers 

 margined with the same. Female with the plumage duller, the 

 lower parts more deeply tinged with dusky. Length eight inches 

 and a quarter, wing four and a half. 



The Tyrant Flycatcher, or " King Bird," is common with us, 

 and is usually observed about the cultivated grounds. It arrives 

 in May, and renaains during summer. Its nest is generally 

 found on the branch of an apple-tree ; the eggs, five in 

 number, are blotched and spotted with chocolate on white ground. 

 The King Bird alights on the tops of small trees, stakes, or mul- 

 lein stalks, which situation it at times- occupies for minutes toge^ 



