388 



GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



for in a similar manner. It is worthy of notice that in those 

 cases where song has been developed, bright colors are usu- 

 ally absent. The perching birds are the familiar birds of 

 forest, field, and garden, and are those with which the young 

 student will naturally begin his study in the field. They are 

 so numerous that very few can be referred to here. 



The flycatchers (Tymn'nidm, Fig. 207) are pert little birds 

 with a slightly hooked bill, provided with bristles at its base. 

 From some convenient perch they watch for insects, which 





FIG. 207. Photograph of Mounted Group of Flycatchers 

 (American Museum of Natural History) 



they snap at on the wing, returning to the perch after each 

 flight. The bristles at the base of the bill serve to entangle 

 insects and make their capture more certain. The brightly 

 colored wood- warblers (Mniotil'tidce), as Mr. Chapman says, 

 " at once the delight and the despair of field students," are 

 also insect-eaters, getting their food almost exclusively from 

 the leaves or bark of trees, though some capture it on the 

 wing, after the manner of the flycatchers. 



The vireos (Vir eon' idee) are to be found in much the same 

 places as many of the wood-warblers, industriously picking 

 insects from the leaves of trees, or from crevices in the bark. 



