BIRDS WHICH FEED ON INSECTS 



61 



buted through Europe, Asia, and North Africa, is found in 

 districts where tall trees are mixed with underwood, and its 

 powerful slightly-hooked beak suggests that its diet includes 

 animals higher in the scale than insects. Such a conclusion is 

 borne out by the facts, for it hunts upon the ground for lizards 

 and frogs, as well as worms and insects, besides which it catches 

 these last on the wing. 



The common names of some families of perching birds have 

 reference to their insectivorous habits, as, e.g., in the case of the 



Fig. 350. Crowned Tyrant (Muscivora regia) 



Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidcz), represented in this country 

 by three species, of which the commonest is the Spotted Fly- 

 catcher (Muscicapa grisola). These birds catch insects on the 

 wing, frequently settling on the branches of trees, from which they 

 dart out at their prey. 



The American or Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidtz) are dis- 

 tinguished by similar habits to those of the last-named family. 

 The Crowned Tyrants (Muscivora) of Mexico and South America 

 (fig. 350) are possessed of beaks flattened from above downwards. 



