MUSCICAPA. 195 



a minute character, it is a very constant one, and 

 is quite different from that possessed by the tyrants. 

 Among these birds the anterior scales only cover the 

 front of the tarsus, and they are divided into four or 

 five pieces, while the lateral scales, which protect the 

 sides, are all of one piece : in Tyrannula^ these side 

 pieces, on the contrary, are entirely wanting ; for the 

 anterior scales completely envelope the tarsus, and 

 the two edges meet behind. The bill of the present 

 genus is here noticed the last, because it is the most 

 variable of the characters here given, and cannot of 

 itself be taken as an exclusive mark of distinction, 

 unconnected with the wings and feet. Neverthe- 

 less the form of this member, in the present genus, 

 has something so peculiar to the eye of the expe- 

 rienced ornithologist, that he will immediately de- 

 tect, although he would find a difficulty in defining, 

 its characters : It differs, of course, from that of 

 the todies, in being much shorter and more trian- 

 gular ; that is, it begins to narrow towards the tip 

 almost from its base ; there is no danger, therefore, 

 of a Muscicapa being mistaken for a Todus : the 

 difficulty lies in distinguishing Mwcicapa from Ty- 

 rannula, the Old from the New World flycatchers. 

 In the present genus, the bill, however, although 

 equally broad, is more flattened on the sides, and 

 the culmen or ridge is consequently more promi- 

 nent, neither is the tip so much bent as in the 

 tyrants. In its form, as just observed, there are 

 considerable variations : in Muscipeia it is long, 

 while in some of the Myiagra it is shorter and 



