TRAILL'S FLY-CATCHER. 237 



MUSCICAPA Tkaillii. 



Plate XLV. Adult Male, 



Bill of ordinary length, depressed, tapering to a point, the lateral out- 

 lines a little convex, very broad at the base ; the gap reaching to nearly 

 under the eye ; upper mandible with the edges acute, slightly notched 

 close upon the tip, which is a little deflected and acute ; lower mandible 

 straight, acute. Nostrils basal, lateral, elliptical. Head and neck of 

 moderate size. Body rather slender. Feet of moderate length, slender ; 

 tarsus compressed, covered anteriorly with short scutella, and longer than 

 the middle toe ; toes free, scutellate above ; claws compressed, arched, 

 acute. 



Plumage soft and tufty ; feathers of the head narrow and erectile. 

 Wings of moderate length, third quill longest. Tail longish, slightly 

 forked when closed, of twelve rather narrow, obtuse feathers. 



Bill dark brown above, yellow beneath. Iris hazel. Feet brownish- 

 black. The general colour of the plumage above is dull brownish-olive, 

 the two rows of larger wing-coverts tipped with dull white. Throat 

 greyish- white, as is a very narrow space aroimd the eye ; sides of the head 

 and neck, and fore part of the breast, coloured like the back, but lighter ; 

 the rest of the under parts dull yellowish-white. 



Length 5f inches, extent of wings 8| ; bill along the ridge ^, along 

 gap I ; tarsus /g. 



As already mentioned, this species bears a very close resemblance to 

 Muscicapa acadica, and M. virens, more especially the former. 



Muscicapa virens has the tail deeply emarginate, whereas in the pre- 

 sent species that part is nearly even. The colouring is nearly the same 

 in both, but M. virens is considerably larger. 



Muscicapa acadica is also similarly coloured, but in it the whitish 

 space about the eye is larger, the throat darker, the breast and abdomen 

 lighter. The tail also is quite even. A decided difference exists in the 

 bill, which, in place of being convex in its lateral outlines, is a little 

 concave. 



