Molliceps 1 1 9 



and gristly head, and is a little smaller than a Thrush 

 in size ; the bill is strong but small, and curved ; in 

 colour it is wholly grey, while it is weak-footed and 

 feeble on the wing, it is caught chiefly by the Noctua. 



The Molliceps I think to be that little bird which Germans 

 call nuinmurder, not without a cause. Further that it may 

 be quite clear to all which and what sort of bird it really is, 

 I will touch on its form and habits as compendiously as 

 may be. In size it equals the least of the Thrushes, and 

 to one observing from afar seems wholly grey. And yet, 

 to one inspecting it more nearly, the chin, the breast and 

 belly appear white, and from each eye there reaches to the 

 neck, although somewhat oblique, a long black patch. It 

 has so big a head that (were the bill longer and larger) it 

 assuredly would answer in proportion for a bird of thrice its 

 size. The bill is black and moderately short, and hooked 

 at the tip, but is the stoutest and strongest of all, so much 

 so that the bird once wounded my hand, although protected 

 by a double glove, and very speedily it crushes and breaks up 

 the bones and skulls of birds. Each wing is wholly black, 

 except that a white line of some size marks transversely the 

 middle of the wing on either side. The tail is like that of 

 a Pie, that is to say, longish and particoloured. Of all it 

 has the shortest legs and feet proportionately to its body, 

 and these parts are black. It has short wings, and flies as 

 if by bounds upwards and downwards. It lives on beetles, 

 butterflies, and biggish insects, and not only these, but also 

 birds after the manner of a Hawk. For it kills Reguli and 

 Finches and (as once I saw) Thrushes ; and bird-catchers 

 even report that it from time to time slays certain woodland 

 Pies, and can put Crows to flight. It does not seize the birds 

 it kills with its claws, after a swift flight, as Hawks do, but 

 attacks them stealthily and soon (as I have often had ex- 

 perience) aims at the throat and with its beak squeezes and 

 breaks the skull. Then it devours the crushed and bruised 

 bones, and when anhungered crams into its gullet lumps of 

 flesh as big as the gape's narrowness can take. Again, 

 beyond the habit of the rest of birds, when prey happens 

 to be more plentiful, it lays by some for future scarcity. 



