108 MUSCICAPIN^l. 



than that of the hind-toe and claw*, and in those 

 very fe^w types where this proportion is not observed, 

 the tarsi, although lengthened, are remarkably slen- 

 der and the claws syndactyle, that is, more or less 

 united together at their base. There is another 

 peculiarity which seems very characteristic of all the 

 types we have hitherto seen of the Muscicapidce, 

 where, notwithstanding the many variations in the 

 form of the tail, 110 one instance can be cited of this 

 member being forked. Attention also to the claws 

 will enable the ornithologist to distinguish the ge- 

 nuine fly-catchers from the tyrant fly-catchers oif 

 America ; in the latter they are invariably long, 

 acute, and slender ; so much so, indeed, as to make 

 one believe they were intended to seize the prey of 

 the bird ; but this is not the case, although we are 

 quite ignorant of the use of such a peculiar forma- 

 tion. The true fly-catchers, on the other hand, 

 aflbrd us not one recorded example of this structure, 

 their claws are shorter, broader and much less acute; 

 this difference, however, is not sufficient to distin- 

 guish all the tyrant fly-catchers, as some of the very 

 small species, whose true affinities, in fact, are some- 

 what doubtful, possess the claws of the Muscica- 

 pidoe^ but these latter never exhibit those of the Ty- 

 rannince. 



No circumstance is more remarkable, and cer- 



* This distinction will much assist the ornithologist in de- 

 scriminating the flycatching warblers, as Saocicola^ Culicivora^ 

 Setophaga* and a few other groups, in all which the tarsi are 

 lengthened ; and the toes, although rather small, are always 

 deeply cleft. 



