"ak 
78 ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 
and the other Sylvia, would come into that group 
the Ampelide which forms a passage to the Sylvia 
If this suspicion is well founded, the grallatorial 
tenuirostral type is still undiscovered. Hitherto we 
are unacquainted with any bird of this family which 
feeds upon the ground, and which might therefore be 
supposed to supply this deficiency; but the crested 
thrush of Lewin *, judging from the figure, appears be- 
tween a lark and a Pachycephala, and may, therefore, 
possibly be the type in question. It is described as 
inhabiting rocks and barren “scrubby’’ places, having a f 
jerk in its walking motion, at the same time erecting its — 
crest like the cockatoo: but as no specimen of this bird 
has yet passed under our observation, our suspicions are 
consequently founded on mere conjecture. 
CHAP. VII. 
\ 
THE DENTIROSTRES CONCLUDED. -—- ON THE MUSCICAPIDA, OR 
FLY-CATCHERS. 
(89.) THE most insectivorous family of the Denti- 
rostres is composed of the Muscicapide, or flycatchers ; 
a group hardly less numerous than that of the warblers, 
and composed, like them, almost entirely of small birds : 
both families are insectivorous, that is, habitual devour- 
ers of insects ; but very many of the warblers (even in 
the more typical genera) feed also upon fruits, of which 
the robin, the blackcap, and the whitethroat are nota- 
ble examples. The flycatchers, however, properly so 
called, seem to be strictly and exclusively insectivorous, 
or, at least, it has not yet been ascertained that any of the 
species composing the typical group Muscicapine ever 
partake of fruits. This peculiarity of diet, independent 
of many others, separates them from the warblers on 
* B. of N. H, pl. 9. 
7 i 
