M U S C I C A PA, 
the place it fprangfrom; and this it may be feen to do 
many times together. .They frequent orchards where 
cherries grow, of which they are laid to be very great 
deftroyers : hence, in Kent, are known by the name of 
cherry-J'uchers. They frequent the warmer parts of the 
European continent, but are found no-where more north¬ 
ward than in our realms. In the fouthern parts of Rulfia 
they are pretty common.—A fmalier variety is found be¬ 
yond Lake Baikal. 
99. Mufcicapa variegata, the variegated fly-catcher: 
fize of the white wagtail general colour brown ; the 
forehead, fides of the head, and all the- under parts, white ; 
there is alfoa line of white from the flioulders to the mid¬ 
dle of the back ; the tail appears worn at the ends; the 
outer feathers white at the tip. Inhabits India. Marked 
by Dr.Turton as a third variety of the atricapilla, N° 26. 
100. Mufcicapadichroa, the party-coloured fly-catcher: 
above cinereous, beneath ochre; tail-feathers partly ochre, 
partly cinereous ; bill and legs blackilh. Inhabits Africa. 
101. Mufcicapa deferti, the deleft fly-catcher: general 
colour of the body ferruginous and footy; wings and tail 
blackilh ; bill yellowilh ; legs black. Inhabits the defects 
of Arabia. 
102. .Mufcicapa Javanica, the Javan fly-catcher: fize of 
the fpotted fly-catcher : tail very long, and rounded ; 
body varied with black and ferruginous; beneath white ; 
throat black; eyebrows white; bill and legs black; fea¬ 
thers of the body above tipt with ferruginous ; eight of 
the tail-feathers tipt with white. Inhabits Java. 
103. Mufcicapa alba, the white fly-catcher: plumage 
chiefly white; head yellowilh ; bill white, a little deprefi'ed ; 
throat, and part of the neck, yellowilh. Inhabits round 
Stockholm. 
104. Mufcicapa Cambayenfis, the Cambay fly-catcher: 
general colour glofly black: back yellowilh green; be¬ 
neath tawny yellow; wing-coverts with a double white 
band; bill deprefl'ed, broad, blackilh; wing-coverts tipt 
with white ; legs bluilh. Inhabits Cambay : fize of the 
pied fly-catcher. 
105. Mufcicapa malachura, the foft-tailed fly-catcher. 
We have placed this after all the Linnaean fpecies, be- 
caufe it has been recently difcovered. An account of it, 
with drawings of male and female, was communicated to 
the Linnaean Society by major-general Thomas Davies, 
F.R.andL.SS. in the year 17^8. The drawings were 
examined by Dr. Shaw, who then named the bird as above, 
and formed the following fpecific character: Above brown, 
beneath ferruginous; throat (of the male) blue; tail long, 
wedged, with Toole webbed feathers. Bill brownilh black; 
head (of the male only) with a pale azure bar from the 
bafe of the bill over the eye; front and cheeks ferrugi¬ 
nous; middle of the belly nearly white ; feathers of the 
back and rump long, foft, filky; wings lliort, brownifh- 
black, edged with rufous brown ; body above ftreaked 
with brownilh-black; tail above four inches long, the 
lhafts black, flender, and armed each fide with minute, 
Ilender, black, filaments, like hair. Inhabits marihy 
places about Sidney and Botany-bay, New South Wales ; 
lives among long gral's and ruffes, in which it hides it- 
felf very dexteroully; and, when diftilrbed, its flight is 
"very Ihort, like that of a grafs-hopper ; and it no fooner 
alights, than it runs with luch great agility, that many, 
who have been confident of their having covered birds 
with their hats, have, to their great furprife, feen them 
again take wing at no great diftance: fo that they are al¬ 
ways difficult to catch. The length of the bird, from-the 
point of the bill to the end of the rump, is no more than 
three inches; the bill three-eighths of an inch. The na¬ 
tives of New South Wales give it the name of merion bin - 
nion, or caffowary-bird, on account of the great refem- 
blance of its tail to the feathers of the caflowary. But 
no verbal defcription can give an accurate idea of the tail 
and general afpeft of this curious bird ; we have there¬ 
fore, on Plate IV. fig. 1, given a reprel'entation of the 
male, of the natural fize, from the Linn. Ti'anf. yol, iv. 
yen. XVI. No. ms. 
2G0 
We now proceed to defcribe the remaining fpecies, 
which Monf. Vaillant has added to this genus. 
106. Mufcicapa undulata, the undulated fly-catcher. 
With this'fpecies Vaillant begins a fubdivifion of fly¬ 
catchers, which, though they refemble the only one (he 
fays) we have in Europe, the M. grilola, differ however 
from the fly-catchers properly fo called. The bill is not 
fo broad, efpecially at the bafe ; the mouth is not furniffied 
with thofe long hairs which prevent the flies from efcap- 
ing when once caught; and therefore, though they do 
hunt flies on the wing, they often lofe their prey. We 
have mentioned fome of this kind already. Vaillant ob- 
ferved, that the true fly-catchers live folitary, perching 
and building their nefts on the tops of large trees ; but 
thefe, on the contrary, are more in open places, builu 
lower, and feveral are often feen together feeking their 
food, which, befides flies, confifts of caterpillars, the eggs 
and larvte of butterflies, and fuch little infedts as are 
found on the branches and leaves of trees. They are 
alfo of a fhorter and ltouter make, with a fliorter tail, lit¬ 
tle or not at all tapering; and their motions are not fo 
brilk. Their fong is alfo more harmonious, though not 
by any means to compare with the warblers. Vaillant 
therefore concludes, that we have not in Europe one fpe¬ 
cies of fly-catcher properly fo called ; but that thofe now 
to be treated of agree with the two European fpecies that 
come nearefi: to them. 
“ The prefent African fpecies,” fays Vaillant, “ fo 
much refembles the fly-catcher common in France, that 
they might eafily be confounded; and, when firfl: I ffot it 
in Africa, I was almofl: perfuaded they were the fame. 
Not being able to compare them, I was the more eafily de¬ 
ceived, as the colours are fimilar, and efpecially as I had 
found many other African birds exactly fimilar to the 
fpecies in Europe. I however obferved that my African 
bird was fmalier; and I thought it ltrange the fpecies 
fliould degenerate in a warm climate, in a country where 
infefts are fo abundant, that it might on the contrary have 
been expected to be larger; it was not, however, till I 
had brought feveral of them, both males and females, to 
Europe, and had compared them with our fly-catchers, 
that I was fatisfied they were two difiinfit fpecies. This 
may ferve as a hint of caution to other naturalifts.” 
This bird, then, is fmalier than the European fpecies it 
fo much refembles, being only four inches and fix or 
feven lines from the end of the bill to the tip of the tail, 
whereas the other fpecies is five inches eight or ten lines 
in length; and the fame proportions nearly fubfill in the 
other parts ; the bill indeed is broader at the bafe, and the 
wings are but two inches long, while thofe of the European 
fly-catcher are two inches two lines, and their coverts 
reach beyond the middle of the tail, but in the African 
fpecies not more than a fourth part. But we have ftfU 
moredecided fpecific differences. The tail of the European 
fly-catcher is fomewhat forked, the mid-quills being 
fhortefl:; in the African they are thejongeft. The African 
fpecies has but fourteen feathers in each wing ; the Eu¬ 
ropean feventeen ; the former has two baftard feathers, 
the latter but one. From thefe indelible marks, which 
climate cannot alter, we may conclude thefe two birds, 
notwithftanding their general refemblance, to be different 
fpecies. 
The bill, feet, and nails, are entirely black; the top of 
the head, back of the neck, mantle, wings, and tail, are 
of an uniform blackifli-brown, darker on the large fea¬ 
thers of the wings and tail. Thus the prefent fpecies has 
not thofe ftreaks of white on the forehead which appear 
on thofe of Europe, nor tlvofe dafh.es of red on the wing- 
coverts ; yet the laft wing-feathers, have a flight edging 
of rufous. The throat is white with brown undulations 3 
breall of the fame, with larger fpots, but.not well defined ; 
neck and belly white ; the plumage of the thighs rufous 
grey; the eyes brown. The female is fmalier; her co- 
lours more delicate; herbreaft whiter, the brown not ex¬ 
tending fo far j,in. Other refpefts they are exactly alikt;. 
3 Z From 
