102 PASSERES. MUSCICAPAD.E. 



species, scattered over every part of the globe, 

 and differing widely in the details of generic cha- 

 racter. They are all, however, well united to- 

 gether by common peculiarities of structure ; and 

 in particular, by the beak being strong, broad, 

 flat, angular on the summit, and notched at the 

 tip, and by the presence of strong hairs or 

 bristles that surround its base. 



GENUS MUSCICAPA. (LiNN.) 



In this genus, the only British representative 

 of the great Family to which it belongs, the beak 

 is rather strong, triangular, sharply ridged along 

 the upper edge, moderately dilated at the base, 

 where it is furnished with fine but stiff hairs. 

 The nostrils are placed near the base, are some- 

 what oval, and partially covered with hairs point- 

 ing forwards. The wings are rather long and 

 pointed, the first quill very small and rudimentary, 

 the third longest. The tail is of moderate length, 

 either even at the extremity, or slightly forked. 

 The feet are rather, weak, the tarsus and the 

 middle toe somewhat lengthened. 



In England we have two species of this genus, 

 of which the Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa gri- 

 sola, LINN.) is the most common. The upper 

 parts are dusky brown, the lower parts white, the 

 throat, breast, and sides, spotted with narrow 

 dashes of brown. 



The Spotted Flycatcher, though sufficiently 

 abundant throughout Great Britain, is yet only 

 one of our migratory visitors ; and its stay with 

 us is among the very shortest. It rarely arrives 

 before the latter end of May, when the summer is 



