M USC 
ful and learned manner, has fcarcelyimproved upon the 
definition of Ray. He fpeaks of Mufci as “ an inferior 
tribe of plants; the moll imperfeft kinds of which conlift, 
either of fimple and uniform parts, deftitute of flower and 
feed ; or of parts differing among themfelves, accompa¬ 
nied with fomething in the place of flowers and fruits, 
which is analogous to thole organs. The more perfect 
kinds are compofed of parts not fo much differing in 
figure, but are befides furnilhed with organs containing a 
pulpy matter, that becomes dry .in ripening, and when ar¬ 
rived at maturity flies off', in the form of an extremely 
fubtil powder, ferving for the propagation of the plant.” 
Linnaeus firft circumfcribed the natural order of Mufci 
within its juft limits. It makes the fecond order of his 
cryptogamia; and, except the genus Lycopodium, which 
does not fo properly belong to this order as to the Filices, 
and porella, which is a miffake, he includes nothing but 
what anfwers to themoft correct and molt recent ideas on 
the lubjeft. See the article Botany, vol. iii. p. 256, 280, 
299. 
The lateft obfervations on the fruftifleation of modes, 
will be found in the Linn. Tranf. vol. x. p. 312 & feq. in 
a paper by Mr. Robert Brown, the librarian of the fociety; 
wherein he propofes two new genera; Dawfonia, confifting 
of a Angle fpecies, and Leptoltomum, of four fpecies : all 
from New Holland. 
MUSCICA'PA, f. the Fly-catcher ; in ornithology, 
a genus of birds of the order pafleres. Generic charac¬ 
ters—Bill nearly triangular, notched on both fides, bent 
in at the tip, and befet with bridles at the bale; noftrils 
roundilh ; toes (modly) divided to their origin. 
Few genera, according to M. Vaillant, have been more 
confounded with others than the fly-catchers properly fo 
called ; that is to lay, thofe whofe chief food is flies and 
other infers caught upon the wing, either by lying in wait 
for them, or purfuing them as the Ihrikes do their prey. 
The fpecies of this genus, therefore, though very nume¬ 
rous, are continually confounded with the pipits, the 
wagtails, warblers, &c. The fly-catchers in their habits 
greatly referable the Ihrikes, and are to be coniidered as 
real birds of prey of a lower order; and might be ranked 
immediately after the fmalleft of thofe kinds which pur- 
fue birds weaker than themfelves, to feed upon their 
fielh. They are well diftinguilhed by a flat bill widening 
towards the bafe; the upper mandible is triangular, di¬ 
vided in the middle of its length by a lharp long ridge, 
which reaching to the tip forms a hook fimilar in lhape 
to that of all the carnivorous tribes'. The feathers of the 
front of the head come very forward upon the bill, partly 
covering the noftrils, which lie very forward, fo that 
thefe birds appear to have a very long roftrum, from 
which character, the great Linnaeus miftook one of the 
long-tailed fly-catchers for a paradife raven. The fides 
of the mandibles are armed with long ftiff briftles. “ I 
ufe the word armed," fays Vaillant, “ fince they are of the 
utmoft importance to them in their chafe after winged 
inlefts. Thefe briftles are at the bafe of the mandibles ; 
they incline obliquely inwards, thofe of the upper man¬ 
dible hanging downwards, and thofe of the lower riling 
in an oppofite direction, fo that, when the bird opens its 
bill, they join acrofs, and form a net on each fide the 
mouth; when therefore this bird purfues a fly, if the 
little animal once gets in the direction of the open 
mouth, it can hardly efcape, but muft be engulphed 
by the bird continuing its courfe, for it cannot avoid 
the net by turning on either fide. It often happens, 
indeed, when the bird lliuts its mouth to fecure the fly, 
that the iatter is left on one fide between the bill and 
the briftles, and is fometimes fo fortunate as to efcape ; 
not very frequently however, for the bird, milling its 
prey, prefently opens its mouth, and makes a chop on 
that fide where the poor fly is ftruggling to difengage 
jffelf from the net-work, where it is entangled as in a 
Spider’s web. The noife the fly-catcher makes in lliut-. 
I C A P A. 259 
ting its mouth, may be diftinftly heard at a hundred paces 
diftance in calm weather. 
The fame fierce and cruel difpofition may be obferved 
in thefe birds as in the Ihrikes. Like them they are quar- 
relfome and revengeful; like them alfo they fix upon a 
certain diftrift, from which they exclude, as much as their 
ftrength will permit, not only all other birds that feed 
upon infefts, but even their own fpecies. They confine 
themfelves chiefly to one fpot, and upon a bare branch of 
a folitary tree they fit watching for 1 their prey; and we 
may obferve in all the fpecies of fly-catcher that upright 
attitude which is common, not only to the Ihrikes, but 
to all carnivorous birds, and in general to all that remain 
long in the fame place watching for their prey. The fly¬ 
catchers have the tarfus rather fliort than long ; claws 
hooked, and very lharp; and the foie of the foot broad. 
They have large bright eyes, and can difeern frnall infefts 
at a very confiderable diftance. They are naturally Ihy, 
and very difficult of approach; they have no fong, but 
utter a lharp and plaintive cry. * 
The manners and habits of the real fly-catchers, as 
well as their conformation, are very various ; and there¬ 
fore Vaillant divides them into feveral feftions. Some 
have beautiful large crefts; and their tails differ greatly 
in lhape; in fome it is fquare, in others tapered or gra¬ 
duated, (etagee,) like our magpie; feveral fpecies have 
two long filaments in the middle of the tail, like fome of 
the parakeets; others have it forked, like our fwallows; 
while others have filaments on each fide, as in fome of 
the rollers. In fliort, all the forms of tail which nature 
has divided among birds in general are united in this 
Angle genus ; a circumftance which greatly facilitates the 
diftribution of the fpecies into divifions. They are alfo 
extremely various in fize, from the bignefs of a nightin¬ 
gale to that of a fhrike, as will appear from the figures on 
our plates. There are more than a hundred fpecies. 
The uleful deftination of the fly-catchers will occur to 
the moft fuperficial obferver. The infeft-tribes elude the 
interference of man; and, though defpicable as indivi¬ 
duals, they often become formidable by their numbers. 
Inftances are recorded of their multiplying to fuch an 
amazing degree as to darken the air ; of their devouring 
the whole vegetable produftions ; and of their carrying 
in their train the accumulated ills of famine and pefti- 
lence. Happily for mankind, fuch calamities are rare; 
and Nature has wifely provided the proper remedies. 
Moft birds fearch for infefts’ eggs; many feed on their 
groveling larvae; fome live upon their cruftaceous cry- 
lalids ; and the fly-catchers feize them after they efcape 
from prifon, exulting on their wings. Hence in autumn, 
when thefe birds migrate into other climates, the lwarms 
of gnats, flies, and beetles, are in our latitudes more than 
ulually numerous. But in the tropical countries, where 
heat and moifture confpire to ripen the exuberance of in- 
feft life, the fly-catchers are more eflential. All nature is 
balanced; and the circle of generation and deftruftion is 
perpetual ! The philofopher. contemplates with tender 
melancholy this cruel fyftem of war ; he drives in vain to 
reconcile it with his ideas of benevolence of intention ; 
but he is forcibly ftruck with the nice adjuftment of the 
various parts, their mutual connexion and fubordination, 
and the unity of plan which pervades the whole. 
1. Mufcicapa paradifi, the paradife fly-catcher: head 
crefted, dark green: body red, (fometimes white;) tail 
wedged, the two middle feathers very long. This beau¬ 
tiful fpecies has been deferibed by Briflon and Bu’ffbu, but 
(Vaillant fays) very incorreftly: for both thefe writers (he 
adds) have deferibed the female only, or the young male, 
fince they omit to mention the two long feathers in the 
middle of the tail, which charafterife the male of this fpe¬ 
cies, in its perfeft ftate. Briflon, indeed, in his Supple¬ 
ment, correfts his miftake by faying that the bird has a 
long tail; which Buffon, who confounds thisipecies with 
another, contradicts, 
Tii? 
