FAMILY TYRANNIES 



olive brown passing to dark chestnut on rump, 

 everywhere indistinctly barred with black; 

 wings and tail dark chestnut; under parts dull 

 tawny buff, barred with black, the bars of 

 crown, foreneck, chest and breast crescent- 

 shaped. Bill stout, nearly straight; tail long, 

 graduated and with rigid, pointed, denuded tips. 



A very large woodhewer, the plumage decid- 

 edly barred, but possibly not conspicuously so 

 from a distance, owing to lack of contrast be- 

 tween the brown and black. 



' ' It is occasionally attracted by the armies of 

 ants, where it mixes with the other species 

 of Creepers and Ant Thrushes." (Richmond.) 



49. Family TYRANNID^ 

 The American Flycatchers 



A very large, exclusively American family 

 of insectivorous birds related to the cotingas 

 and manakins, with both of which groups it 

 is connected by intermediate forms, though 

 the typical flycatchers are easily recognized 

 even by beginners in ornithology, owing to 

 their characteristic habits, positions and 

 movements. 



They are mostly rather solitary in habits 

 and commonly sit in a noticeably upright 

 position, choosing a perch affording a good 

 lookout and making swift sallies after the 

 insects that fly past, snapping them up with 

 their bill and frequently returning repeatedly 

 to the same perch. The feathers of the back 

 276 



