GENUS MICRCECA (Gould). 



^^NLY three species of this form are known, all inhabiting Australia. 



MICRCECA ASSIMILIS (Gould). 



ALLIED FLYCATCHER. 



THIS species inhabits Western Australia, frequenting every kind of country, from open forest land 

 studded with giant eucalypti, to the scrubby places and thickets near the coast. 



It feeds on insects, procured from the branches of trees, or captured while on the wing. In 

 its other habits it assimilates to the type member of the genus, Micrceca Fascinans, from which also 

 it differs but little in appearance. 



The upper surface and tail are dark brown ; wing-feathers, dark brown, margined with lighter 

 colour ; chin, brown ; under surface, white ; hides, reddish-brown ; bill, legs, and feet, black. 



Total length, 4f inches : bill, 9 /ie mcn I w i n g> 3§ inches ; tail, 2~ inches ; tarsi, 9 / 16 inch. 



Habitat : Western Australia. 



MICEGECA FASCINANS. 



BROWN FLYCATCHER. 



1"N nearly every part of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, the Brown Flycatcher 

 -L abounds, frequenting, like its congener, Micrceca Assimilis, every class of country. 



It is generally seen in pairs, usually near the ground, but very often on a branch of a high 

 gum tree, whence it pours forth its beautiful song, which seems to have been granted to it by nature 

 to compensate for its lack of personal beauty. 



It is remarkably tame in disposition, and is often found perched on a fence or shrub in close 

 proximity to dwellings. 



It feeds exclusively on insects, which are sometimes sought for among the foliage of trees and 

 bushes, and sometimes pursued and captured in the air. 



During the breeding season it lays two eggs in a small nest constructed of roots, moss, and 

 strips of bark, which is placed in the fork of one of the branches of a high tree. The eggs are 

 light greenish-blue, blotched with reddish-brown and grey. In length they are eight and a half lines, 

 and in breadth five and a half lines. Two broods are reared each season. 



