116 BIRD GALLERY. 



recognised by their flattened bill beset with bristles. Some of the 

 forms included in the Flycatchers, such as Cryptolopha (1846) and 

 Polioptila (1851), might well be placed in the Warblers (Sylviidce), and 

 it seems doubtful if any real line can be drawn between the two families, 

 while the mottled or squamated plumage of the nestling seems to indi- 

 cate a close relationship to the Thrushes (Turdidae). One of the best 

 known is the Common Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola] (1828), 

 one of our later summer-migrants, which arrives from Africa in May. 

 It feeds solely on insects captured on the wing, the bird darting at 

 them from some branch, to which it again returns for a fresh sally. 

 Another less numerous summer-visitor is the Pied Flycatcher (M. atri- 

 capilla} (1827), while the Red-breasted Flycatcher (M. parva) (1829) is 

 an occasional visitor from Eastern Europe and Asia. The Brown Fly- 

 catcher (Alseonax latirostris) (1830) is said to have occurred in Kent. 

 Among the more striking exotic forms we may mention the Australian 

 "Robins," Petrosca phcenicea (1831) and P. rhodinogaster (1832), with 

 their scarlet and pink breasts ; the lovely Narcissus-Flycatcher (Xantho- 

 pygianarcissina}(\W\},ivom China and Japan; the Paradise-Flycatchers 

 (Terpsiphone) (1866), with the middle pair of tail-feathers greatly 

 lengthened in the male ; the numerous species of Rhidipura (1853-6), 

 with wide fan-shaped tails, which are frequently outspread as they dance 

 from branch to branch, and their remarkably neat cup-shaped nests, 

 several of which are exhibited on the floor of the Case ; the Australian 

 Restless Flycatcher (Sisura inquieta) (1874), known to the colonists as 

 the " Grinder, " on account of the peculiar grinding note which it utters 

 while hovering in the air like a kestrel before descending on its prey ; 

 and, lastly, the Niltavas (1863-5), with their brilliant plumaged males, 

 said to be less typical in their habits and to eat berries. 



Family IV. CAMPOPHAGID^;. CUCKOO-SHRIKES. 



[Case 71.] Tne mem bers of tn i s Old- World family seem to constitute a link 

 between the Flycatchers and the Shrikes, and, as in the latter family, 

 the plumage of the nestling is cross-barred and not mottled or squamated. 

 They are chiefly distinguished by the spiny character of the rump- 

 feathers, and the majority possess a strong hooked bill. A remarkable 

 form, the Pheasant Cuckoo-Shrike (Pteropodocys phasianella) (1876), 

 with a long forked tail and stout legs, is a native of Australia, and lives 

 chiefly on the ground. Other larger forms of a somewhat similar type 

 belonging to the genera Graucalus (1876, Mil), Art amides (1878, 1879), 

 and Campophaga (1882, 1883) are arboreal and feed on insects which 

 they pick off the leaves. The most attractive members of the family 

 are the Minivets (Pericrocotus] (1884, 1888), mostly birds of brilliant 

 plumage, the predominant colour of most of the males being scarlet and 



