52 SPECTACLE FLYCATCHER. 



analogies of the African todies*, they need not here 

 he repeated. 



Total length ahout 4 J inches ; bill, from the 

 gape, ; from the front, ^ ; wings, 2| ; tail, 

 from the base, 2. 



COMMON GREY FLYCATCHER. 

 Muscicapa grisola ? LINN^US. 



Above, grey ; beneath, whitish ; breast and sides of the neck 

 with dusky stripes ; bill, narrow, and compressed towards 

 the end ; tail, slightly forked. 



Muscicapa grisola, Linnceus^ And. 



WE have now before us two birds, one from South- 

 ern, the other from Western Africa, which in size, 

 colour, and general formation, perfectly agree with 

 a British specimen of Muscicapa grisola, except in 

 one very remarkable circumstance. In the African 

 specimens, the second and third quills are of equal 

 length, and they are hardly exceeded by the third, 

 which is the longest. In the British specimen, on 

 the contrary, the second and fifth quill are equal, 

 and the fourth quill is two-tenths of an inch longer 

 than these, and exceeds the length even of the third 

 quill. Is this a permanent distinction, or is it the 

 * See Classification of Birds, ii. 



