66 
THE MUSCICAPTDjE. 
at the same time prevent either the eyes or face 
being injured by the claws or wings of the insect. 
We have already seen their structure slightly de- 
veloped among several groups of the warblers, and 
indeed the two families, as will subsequently appear, 
are so closely united, that the best ornithologists are 
perpetually confounding one with the other. A little 
attention, however, will show their true distinctions. 
Both are flycatching families, but with some re- 
markable differences ; the warblers pursue the chase 
from tree to tree ; they are perpetually wandering 
about and hunting up their game ; whereas the true 
flycatchers are sedentary, they will choose some con- 
venient station, generally near their nest, from which 
they watch for their prey, and where they will re- 
main, with little variation, for hours ; after every 
capture, they almost invariably return to the identi- 
cal twig they before occupied. Now these totally 
opposite methods of procuring the same description 
of food, is marked hy a difference equally striking in 
the conformation of the legs and feet. Those of the 
flycatching warblers ( Sylviadw J, however broad 
may be their bill, or strongly bristled, are invariably 
longer, the toes larger and unconnected, and the 
whole structure adapted for that constant exercise 
and locomotion which belongs to the habits of the 
warblers ; we see this in the Setophaga ruticilla, one 
of the broadest billed birds among the Sylviadw. 
Now, as the true flycatchers, comparatively, have 
very little use for their feet, we consequently find 
that these members are formed in a very different 
