MUSCICAPA. 
195 
a minute character, it is a very constant one, and 
is quite different from that possessed by the tyrants. 
Among these birds the anterior scales only cover the 
front of the tarsus, and they are divided into four or 
five pieces, ■while the lateral scales, which protect the 
sides, are all of one piece : in Tyrannula, these side 
pieces, on the contrary, are entirely wanting ; for the 
anterior scales completely envelope the tarsus, and 
the two edges meet behind. The bill of the present 
genus is here noticed the last, because it is the most 
variable of the characters here given, and cannot of 
itself be taken as an exclusive mark of distinction, 
unconnected with the wings and feet. Neverthe- 
less the form of this member, in the present genus, 
has something so peculiar to the eye of the expe- 
rienced ornithologist, that he will immediately de- 
tect, although he would find a difficulty in defining, 
its characters : It differs, of course, from that of 
the todies, in being much shorter and more trian- 
gular ; that is, it begins to narrow towards the tip 
almost from its base ; there is no danger, therefore, 
of a Muscicapa being mistaken for a Todus : the 
difficulty lies in distinguishing Muscicapa from Ty- 
rannula , — the Old from the New World flycatchers. 
In the present genus, the bill, however, although 
equally hroad, is more flattened on the sides, and 
the culmen or ridge is consequently more promi- 
nent, neither is the tip so much bent as in the 
tyrants. In its form, as just observed, there are 
considerable variations : in Muscipeta it is long, 
while in some of the Myiagra it is shorter and 
