506 PASSERIFORMES chap. 



orchards, forests, and low jungles ; they feed chietly upon fruits, 

 including berries and seeds, but also upon insects, which Aetho- 

 rhynchus, Aegithina, and Chloropsis in especial seek among the 

 leaves and branches of the trees. The ordinary note is a mellow 

 cheerful whistle, becoming a pretty song in such species as Pycno- 

 notas haemorrhous, and F. xanthopygus, the Ceylon and Palestine 

 " Nightingales " ; chattering and chirping sounds are, however, 

 often heard, while Criniger, FhyUostreplixLs and Hypsipetes 

 habitually utter reiterated jarring or croaking cries, particularly 

 when roosting in company. The flimsy, or occasionally bulky, 

 nests of twigs, fibres, grass, moss, and cobwebs are placed in low 

 trees, bushes, creepers, or bamboo-clumps; Aegithina, Chloropsis, 

 and Irena generally laying two or three white or greenish eggs 

 with brown streaks or spots, and the remaining forms from two 

 to four, of a pinkish white or salmon colour, with markings of 

 various reds and purples. The nest of lole is suspended by the 

 rim like that of an Oriole. The Perso-Arabic Bulbul of poets is 

 probably Daulias hafizi, a true Nightingale. 



Fam. VI. Muscicapidae.^ The Old World Flycatchers are a 

 group of somewhat vague definition, Hemipus appearing closely 

 allied to the Laniidae, Cryptolopha to the Sylviinae, Lioptilus to 

 the Timeliidae. Connexion with the Turdinae is implied by the 

 more or less spotted plumage of the young, though the metatarsus 

 is usually scutellated anteriorly. Typically the bill is broad 

 and fiat, with stiff rictal and prominent nasal bristles ; it is 

 extremely wide, with the culminal ridge strongly developed in 

 MacliaerorhynchiLs, Myiagra, Bias, and Smithornis ; Sisura has it 

 longer and more slender ; Chelidorhynx short, with a pronounced 

 hook ; and the diminutive Smicrornis exceptionally small ; while 

 many species have it much less robust. The feet, usually weak, may 

 be stronger, as in Chloropeta ; the wings, ordinarily elongated and 

 pointed, and especially so in Hemichelidon, are at times abbre- 

 viated and rounded, as in Niltava, whereas the secondaries in 

 Platystira, and Newtonia nearly equal the primaries, of which the 

 outer is very short. The tail is also short in Diaphoropliyia, but 

 is usually moderate or long, and frequently much graduated, as in 

 Rhipidura (Fantail), Elminia, and Terpsiphone, the males of the 

 last having the two median feathers twice the length of the body. 

 Terpsiphone, Cyanomyias, Bias, Trochocercus, and so forth, have 

 fine crests, shorter in the female ; while fleshy wattles, round or 



