THE COMMON FLYCATCHER. 31 



the trees. Its food consists of insects and their larvae and berries, but the former appear to be 

 preferred, all kinds being acceptable, from the large Mantis to others of a minute size. It breeds 

 in October and the three following months. The nest is often of a triangular form, in consequence 

 of its being made to fit the angle of the fork of the horizontal branch in which it is placed. It 

 is entirely composed of small dead twigs, firmly matted together with a very fine, white, downy 

 substance, like cobwebs, and a species of lichen, giving the nest the same appearance as the branch 

 upon which it is placed, and rendering it most difficult of detection. In some instances I have 

 found the nest ornamented with the broad, white, mouse-eared lichen. It is extremely shallow in form, 

 its depth and breadth depending entirely upon that of the fork in which it is built ; the largest I have 

 seen did not exceed six inches in diameter. Its note, which is seldom uttered, is a peculiar single 

 purring or jarring sound, repeated several times in succession." 



In Africa the Grey Cuckoo Shrikes, such as that which has been described by Mr. Gould above, 

 are only represented by two species, but the last-named continent possesses some peculiar metallic- 

 plumaged birds, known as the Metallic Cuckoo Shrikes (Campophaga). These are replaced in the 

 Himalayas and throughout the Indo-Malayan region by some duller-coloured species, whose prevailing 

 tints are iron-grey. Of the common Indian species (C. lugiibris) Dr. Jerdon writes : " It is seen 

 solitary or in small parties, frequenting high trees, the foliage of which it diligently searches for various 

 insects. I have found caterpillars chiefly, also other soft insects, as well as bugs and beetles, but 

 never berries, which Hodgson says it frequently eats. He also asserts that it freely descends to the 

 ground to eat, which I certainly have never witnessed. It is a silent bird in general, but Hutton. says 

 it has a plaintive note, which it repeatedly utters while searching through a tree for insects. The 

 same naturalist found its nest in the fork of a tree high up ; it was small, shallow, made of grey 

 lichens, roots, &c., and plastered over with cobwebs. The eggs were two, dull grey-green, with close 

 streaks of a dusky brown." The Miiiivets belonging to the genus Pericrocotus are, with the exception 

 of the Grey Mini vet alluded to above, distributed over India, the Indo-Chinese countries, and the 

 Malayan region. They are very different in appearance from the sober-plumaged Cuckoo Shrikes, 

 the prevailing colours being black and scarlet, the latter being of such a dazzling hue as to render it 

 painful to the eyes to examine them for long. The habits of these birds resemble those of the Cmnpo- 

 pit rifjce. 



THE SEVENTH FAMILY OF THRUSH-LIKE PERCHING BIRDS. 



THE FLYCATCHERS (Muscicapidce). 



Any student following the descriptions of the last few families of birds with specimens in his 

 hand would not have failed to notice that the bills were becoming more and more flattened, and that 

 bristles were becoming a more marked feature of the basal portion of the bill. This latter character 

 is the one by which a Flycatcher is generally recognised. The Scaiisorial Barbets, or Capitonidce, were 

 very remarkable in this respect, but can be distinguished from Flycatchers in an instant by their 

 zygodactyle foot. The Flycatchers are a very numerous family, comprising nearly three hundred 

 species, all of very varied aspect but of very similar habits. Some of them resemble Shrikes ; others, 

 again, might be mistaken for "Warblers ; but a genuine Flycatcher is always to be told by the character 

 of his bill mentioned above. 



THE COMMON FLYCATCHER (Muscieapa grisola).* 



About the time when the Cuckoo visits England a little brown bird also makes his appearance, 

 coming, like the Cuckoo, from Africa, and departing again in the autumn, after having reared his 

 young ones. This is the Common Flycatcher, who must be a familiar object to every dweller in the 

 country, as he sits on the bare branch of a tree or on the rail of an iron fence, uttering his monotonous 

 chirp, and flying without cessation after the passing insects, which he captures with unerring dexterity, 

 and then again resumes his post of observation. As the Flycatcher feeds solely upon insect prey, it 

 is a very useful little bird, and escapes the censure which is hurled at some of its less inoffensive 

 relations ; it is stated occasionally to feed on berries. It would appear to eject pellets formed of the 

 hard portions of the insects it devours ; and Mr. Bartlett, the Superintendent of the Zoological 



* Musca, a fly ; capio, I catch ; griseus, grey. 



