108 
MCSCICAPINjE. 
than that of the hind-toe and claw *, and in those 
very few types where this proportion is not observed, 
the tarsi, although lengthened, are remarkably slen- 
der and the claws syndactyle, that is, more or less 
united together at their base. There is another 
peculiarity which seems very characteristic of all the 
types we have hitherto seen of the Muscicapidce, 
where, notwithstanding the many variations in the 
form of the tail, no one instance can be cited of this 
member being forked. Attention also to the claws 
will enable the ornithologist to distinguish the ge- 
nuine fly-catchers from the t3 r rant fly-catchers of 
America ; in the latter they are invariably long, 
acute, and slender ; so much so, indeed, as to make 
one believe they were intended to seize the prey of 
the bird ; but this is not the case, although we are 
quite ignorant of the use of such a peculiar forma- 
tion. The true fly-catchers, on the other hand, 
afford us not one recorded example of this structure, 
their claws are shorter, broader and much less acute ; 
this difference, however, is not sufficient to distin- 
guish all the tyrant fly-catchers, as some of the very 
small species, whose true affinities, in fact, are some- 
what doubtful, possess the claws of the Muscica- 
pidce, but these latter never exhibit those of the Ty- 
ranrinoB. 
No circumstance is more remarkable, and cer- 
* This distinction will much assist the ornithologist in de- 
seriminating the flyeatehing warblers, as Sa-ricola, Culicivora , 
Setophaga , and a few other groups, in all which the tarsi are 
lengthened ; and the toes, although rather small, are always 
deeply cleft. 
