THE MUSCICAPID.E. 
67 
manner ; the leg is shorter, scarcely indeed exceed- 
ing the length of the liind-toe ; the toes are parti- 
cularly small, and (as an additional support to the 
bird in its sedentary mode of life) the two outer are 
more or less united, so as to give a breadth and a 
support to the sole of the foot which it would not 
otherwise possess. Nothing will illustrate their dis- 
tinction better than taking an example. Let the 
student, therefore, compare the feet of the American 
Red-start ( Setophaga rutcilla, Sw.), which is a fly- 
catching warbler, with the feet of the common 
American Tyrannula rapax or wood-pierce fly- 
catcher, and he will at once comprehend the force of 
the above distinction. 
In regard to the name by which this family should 
be designated, we have been sadly perplexed, and 
this has chiefly originated from what we conceive to 
be the mistaken notions that have been entertained 
regarding the Todxm viriclis. Strictly speaking, the 
name of a group should always be derived from the 
typical genus ; now if this rule was followed in the 
present instance, Eurylaimus (which is evidently 
the type of the whole family) should preserve the 
generic name of Todus, by which indeed it was 
known to all the Lin naan writers ; the Todus viri- 
dis should have received another generic name, and 
the whole family might then be correctly termed 
the Todidee; but these alterations would lead to so 
much confusion, that we have not ventured upon, 
much less do we recommend, their adoption. Again, 
as the whole of these birds are flycatchers, we might 
