PASSERIN.E. 237 



Some species, allied to the Muscipetae (Platyriiynciius), are dis- 

 tinguished by a still broader and more depressed bill *. 



Others, whose bill is also broad and depressed, are remarkable for 

 their long legs and short tail. Two or three only are known, all from 

 America; they feed on ants, which caused them to be united to the little 

 tribe of Thrushes called Ant-catchers-f-. 



MUSCICAPA, Cuv. 



The Fly-catchers, properly so called, have shorter mustachios and a 

 narrower bill than the Muscipetce; it is still, however, depressed with an 

 acute ridge above, straight edges, and a sliglitly hooked point. 



Two species of this subgenus are found in France during the 

 summer, and lead a melancholy life on high trees. The most com- 

 mon is, 



M. grisola, Gm. Enl. 5G5, 1. (The Grey Fly-catcher). Grey 

 above, whitish underneath, with a few greyisla spots on the breast. 

 In some countries it is kept in houses to destroy flies. The other, 



M. albicollis, Tem. ; Gobe-mouche a collier, Enl. 563, 2 and 3; 

 and better. Hist, des Ois. tom. IV. in 4to. pi. 25, f. 2, the male in 

 wedding plumage ; Naum. 65, in its different states. (The Col- 

 lared Fly -catcher). Very remarkable for the changes of the male's 

 plumage. Similar in winter to the female ; that is, grey, with a 

 white band on the wing. In the pairing season it becomes agree- 

 ably variegated with pure black and white ; calotte, back, wings, and 

 tail, black ; the forehead, collar, and all the upper part of the body, 



Jutioptera, Gm. ; Eiil. 567, 3. — M. telescophthalma, Less, and Gam., Voy. de Duperr., 

 Zool.,p]. xviii. 



Others are remarkable for a long, flat, and obtuse bill, similar to that of the Todies; 

 but with a notch, which is wanting in the true Todies, whose feet also are differently 

 forijied. T. cinereiis, Desmar. or T. melnnncephahts, Spix, ix. 2. The young is T. 

 cinereus, Spix, x. 1, and T. macuhttus, Desm. — T. griseus, Desm. 



Finally, a multitude of other species, as the mantele, Vaill. 151, or Mi/sc. borhonica, 

 Enl. 573, \.—M. cristata, Enl. 573, 2, and Tchitrec, Vaill. Afr. III. 142, l.—Musc. 

 cisruha, Enl. 666, 1. — Todus leucocephalus. Pall., Sp., VI. pi. iii. f. 2, or Muse, domini- 

 cana, Spix, 29, 2. M. albiventer, Id. 30, is its female. — T. sylvia, Desm. — Platyrldn- 

 cliiis chrysoceps, Spix, XI. 2. — Plat, riificauda, lb. 1. — Plat, hirwidinaceus, Spix, 13, 

 1. — Plat, cinereus, lb. 2. — Muse, barbata, Enl. 830, 1, of which M. xanthopygus,Sp\x, 

 IX. 1, appears to be the female. — Muse, coronata, Enl. 675, 1. — The molenar, Vaill. 

 160, 1, 2, or M. pistrinaria, Vieill. — The G. m. a lu7iettes, lb. 152, 1. — M. flammiceps, 

 Tem. Col. 144, 3.—M. mystax, Spix, 31. — M. murantla, Enl. 331, 1.— i>/. querula, 

 Vieill. Am. 39, from which the Plat, cinereus, Spix, XIII. 2, scarcely differs. — M. 

 cucullata, Lath., &c. 



N.B. The Mils, barbata has become the genus Tyrannula, Swainson; and the 

 M. querula the Myiagra of Vigors and Horsfield. 



* It is from this division that M. Vieillot has made his genus Platyrhynchos, Gal. 

 126. Such are Muse, aurantia, Enl. 831, 1. — Todus vmcrorhynchos, Lath. Syn. I. 

 pi. XXX. or Todus rostratus, Lath., Desmar. and particularly Todus platyrhynchos, 

 Pall., Spic, VI. pi. iii. c. We see that many of the Muscipetae have been placed 

 among the Todies, and although Pallas basset us the example of doing so, the notch 

 in the bill, and the separation of the external toe forbid it. Add, Plat, olivaceus, T. 

 Col. XII. 1, or sulfurescens, Spix, XII. — Plat, cancromus, Id. lb. 2. 



t Here come Turdus auritus, Gm., Enl. 822, and Vieill. Gal. 127, the same as 

 Pipra leucotis, but which is neither a Thrush nor a Pipra, and Pipra namia, Enl. 823, 

 1. 2. It is upon this distinction that Vieill. has founded his genus Conopophaga, 

 Galer. 127. 



