Genus MUSCICAPA. 
Rubetra apud Brisson, Orn. iii. p. 436 (1760). 
Muscicapa, Linneus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 326 (1766). 
Emberiza apud Scopoli, Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 146 (1769). 
Sylvia apud Latham, Ind. Orn. ii. p. 517 (1790). 
Butalis apud Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 973. 
Saxicola apud Sykes, P. Z. 8S. 1832, p. 92. 
Erythrosterna apud Bonaparte, Comp. List, p. 44 (1838). 
Hedymela apud G. R. Gray, Hand-l. i. p. 321 (1869). 
Ficedula apud Collett, Forh. Vidensk. Selsk. Christiania, 1872, p. 198. 
Tue Flycatchers form a natural and very distinct group, allied on the one side to the Shrikes, 
and on the other to the Ampelide through Péilogonys. They inhabit the Palearctic, Oriental, 
and Ethiopian Regions, four species being found in the Western Palearctic Region. They 
inhabit groves, gardens, and the borders of forests, and are generally to be seen on the topmost 
boughs of the trees and bushes. They feed almost entirely on insects of various kinds, and 
generally take their stand on some open place, such as a bare branch or the top of a rail or post, 
whence they dart off on the approach of an insect, and return to their post of observation when 
they have captured their prey, which they apparently do with ease. ‘Their flight is swift and 
graceful; but they do not appear, as a rule, to traverse long distances. Some of the species 
have no regular song, whereas others have varied and pleasing notes. ‘They place their nest, 
which is somewhat carelessly constructed, but tolerably large, in the hole of a tree or wall; and 
some species deposit plain greenish-blue eggs, whereas others lay eggs which are mottled and 
spotted with reddish on a pale greenish or whitish ground. 
Muscicapa grisola, the type of the genus, has the bill moderately short, broad, and depressed 
at the base, the tip of the upper mandible decurved and slightly toothed; nostrils basal, oval, 
partly concealed by stiff feathers directed forward ; gape furnished with stiff, long bristles; wings 
rather long, pointed, the first quill very short, the second rather longer than the fifth, the third 
longest ; tail moderately long, even, or slightly emarginate; feet short and feeble, tarsus short, 
slender, covered in front with four large and three inferior scutellee, which are rather indistinct 
or partly blended; claws long, compressed, arched, and acute. 
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