12 



MUSCICAPID^l. 



Fam. III. MUSCICAPID.E, OK FLYCATCHERS. 



The peculiar genus Polioptila, which contains some twelve or thirteen 

 species of small-sized American birds, ranging from the United States 

 to the Argentine Republic, has been variously arranged by naturalists, 

 but seems to be more nearly related to the African genus Stenostira 

 than to any other known form. I therefore now place it with the 

 Muscicapidse, or Flycatchers, of which it is the only genus found in 

 the New World. 



10. POLIOPTILA DUMICOLA (VieilL). 

 (BRUSH-LOVING FLY-SNAPPER.) 



Polioptila dumicola, Scl. et Salv. Nomencl. p. 4 ; Durnford, Ibis, 1876, p. 157, 

 1877, p. 167 (Buenos Ayres) ; Salv. Ibis, 1880, p. 352 (Tucuman) ; White, 

 P. Z. 8. 1882, p. 593 (Buenos Ayres) ; Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl viii. p. 86 

 (Concepcion); Sharpe, Cat. 13. x. p. 444. Culicivora dumicola, Burm. La- 

 Plata Eeise, ii. p. 473 (Parana). Culicivora boliviana, Scl. P. Z. S. 1852, 

 p. 34, pi. xlvii. 



Description. Above clear greyish blue; wing-coverts, bastard-wing, and 

 primary-coverts dusky brown, with greyish-blue edges ; quills dusky ; upper 

 tail-coverts and tail-feathers black, the third outer tail-feather white at the tip, 

 the outer tail-feather nearly entirely white ; from the base of the forehead a 

 black line extends backwards over the eye ; under surface delicate ashy grey, 

 white on the abdomen and under tail-coverts ; bill and feet bluish black : total 

 length 4'5 inches, wing 2*1, tail 2'0. Female similar, but without the black 

 eye-streak. 



Hab. Paraguay and Northern Argentina. 



This little bird strongly resembles some species of that division of the 

 Tyrannidse which includes the genera Stigmatura, Serpophaga, and 

 Anceretes] but the likeness, strange to say, is even more marked in 

 habits and voice than in coloration and general appearance. 



It is found in open thorny woods and thickets ; and in Buenos Ayres 

 seems to have a partial migration, as it is much more common in 

 summer than in winter. At all times male and female are found 

 together, and probably pair for life, like several of the species in the 

 groups just mentioned. They are seen continually hopping about 

 among the twigs in a leisurely deliberate manner, all the time emitting 

 a variety of low short notes, as if conversing together; and at intervals 

 they unite their voices in a burst of congratulatory notes, like those 

 uttered by the small Tyrant-birds they resemble. They have no song. 

 I have not found the nest, but Dr. Burmeister says that it is made in 

 bushes, and that the eggs are white. 



