196 
MUSCICAPA. 
broader; but as these two divisions are the most 
typical, so have they the most depressed bills : in 
all the others, the sides towards the tips are com- 
pressed ', and this is accompanied by a thickening of 
the under mandible, which is never seen in Musci- 
peta or My'iagra. The rictal bristles, or those at the 
base of the bill, vary in length, but they are always 
very stiff, and assume a decided character. Lastly, 
we may observe that the tail is never short or 
forked; its usual length is proportionate to the 
wings, but the termination is diversified, and is 
either even, rounded, or graduated. It deserves to 
be mentioned, that out of all the typical Muscipetce 
and My'iagrce not one has been discovered with a 
green or olive-coloured plumage ; the general hue 
being different shades of rufous, brown, grey, blue, 
and sometimes black, the latter colours having 
always a steel-hlue gloss : this is analogous to what 
we find among the swallows, the types of the Fissi- 
rostres, as these birds are the types of the fissirostral 
division of the Denlirostres. The geographic range 
of the flycatchers is very wide, but it extends more 
longitudinal than lateral. One of the abberrant 
forms extends to Europe, and the most northern 
species is probably our common Muscicapa grisola. 
As we approach the tropics of India and Africa the 
typical species abound, and they may be said to have 
their chief metropolis in those regions. The species 
with even or slightly rounded tails, placed in the 
sub-genus My'iagra, are chiefly from the large 
islands which constitute the Australian province, 
