oo THE MUSCICAPIM;. 



at the same time prevent either the eyes or face 

 being injured by the claws or wings of the insect. 

 "We have already seen their structure slightly de- 

 veloped among several groups of the warblers, and 

 indeed the two families, as will subsequently appear, 

 are so closely united, that the best ornithologists are 

 perpetually confounding one with the other. A little 

 attention, however, will show their true distinctions. 

 Both are flycatching families, but with some re- 

 markable differences ; the warblers pursue the chase 

 from tree to tree ; they are perpetually wandering 

 about and hunting up their game ; whereas the true 

 flycatchers are sedentary, they will choose some con- 

 venient station, generally near their nest, from which 

 they watch for their prey, and where they will re- 

 main, with little variation, for hours ; after every 

 capture, they almost invariably return to the identi- 

 cal twig they before occupied. Now these totally 

 opposite methods of procuring the same description 

 of food, is marked by a difference equally striking in 

 the conformation of the legs and feet. Those of the 

 flycatching warblers (Sylviadce), however broad 

 may be their bill, or strongly bristled, are invariably 

 longer, the toes larger and unconnected, and the 

 whole structure adapted for that constant exercise 

 and locomotion which belongs to the habits of the 

 warblers ; we see this in the Setophaga ruticilla, one 

 of the broadest billed birds among the Sylviadce. 

 Now, as the true flycatchers, comparatively, have 

 very little use for their feet, we consequently find 

 that these members are formed in a very different 



