Fam. VI. Muscicapidae.–The Old World Flycatchers are a group of somewhat vague definition, Hemipus appearing closely allied to the Laniidae, Cryptolopha to the Sylviinae, Lioptilus to the Timeliidae. Connexion with the Turdinae is implied by the more or less spotted plumage of the young, though the metatarsus is usually scutellated anteriorly. Typically the bill is broad and flat, with stiff rictal and prominent nasal bristles; it is extremely wide, with the culminal ridge strongly developed in Machaerorhynchus, Myiagra, Bias, and Smithornis; Sisura has it longer and more slender; Chelidorhynx short, with a pronounced hook; and the diminutive Smicrornis exceptionally small; while many species have it much less robust. The feet, usually weak, may be stronger, as in Chloropeta; the wings, ordinarily elongated and pointed, and especially so in Hemichelidon, are at times abbreviated and rounded, as in Niltava, whereas the secondaries in Platystira and Newtonia nearly equal the primaries, of which the outer is very short. The tail is also short in Diaphorophyia, but is usually moderate or long, and frequently much graduated, as in Rhipidura (Fantail), Elminia, and Terpsiphone, the males of the last having the two median feathers twice the length of the body. Terpsiphone, Cyanomyias, Bias, Trochocercus, and so forth, have fine crests, shorter in the female; while fleshy wattles, round or above the eye, of scarlet, blue, or yellow, are found in Terpsiphone, Zeocephus, Diaphorophyia, Platystira, and Arses. The bill is sometimes reddish or blue, and the inside of the mouth green or yellow, as in certain Birds of Paradise.
The males of our summer visitors, the Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Muscicapa grisola and M. atricapilla, are respectively brown with whitish under parts streaked with dusky, and black and white; the hen-bird being similar in the former case, but in the latter olive-brown, with the frontlet, wing-patches, and lower surface buff instead of white. M. (Erythrosterna) parva, which is brown with grey head, and has a reddish-orange fore-neck that becomes rufous in the female, occurs accidentally in Britain. Platystira is glossy bluish- or greenish-black above with white markings, and white beneath with a black pectoral band, the female having greyer upper parts, and sometimes a maroon chest; Erythromyias is black and white, with an orange-rufous breast or back; Pseudogerygone is olive-green, brown, or grey above–dark crimson in P. rubra–with an admixture of black, buff, rufous, yellow, or white, and has similar or yellow tints below; Chasiempis is brownish, relieved by black, white, and bay; Culicicapa is greenish-yellow with a bright yellow lower surface, the head being grey in one species. The hen-bird in these four genera, where known, resembles the male. That sex of Niltava is blackish or purplish, varied with rich cobalt, especially on the neck, the under parts being orange-rufous or purplish-grey; the female is chiefly olive, often with a blue or lilac neck-patch. Malurus commonly shews a fine mixture of blue, purple, and velvety-black, with a little brown and white; one of its members is chiefly brown, but has a blue tail, and a lilac crown with black centre; a second is vermilion, black and brown above, and black below; a third has crimson in the place of vermilion; a fourth is bluish-black and white. The hen-birds are mainly brown, often with a blue, or even a green, tail. Piezorhynchus has two metallic black species, while P. chrysomelas is orange-yellow and black; Metabolus is almost white, with black face and throat; and lastly, Terpsiphone (or Tchitrea), well known on Chinese and Japanese screens and fans, contains several long-tailed and finely crested white birds, with glossy greenish-black head and throat, and with black markings on the wings and tail in T. paradisi, the Paradise-Flycatcher. The female is rich bay above, with similar head, but grey cheeks and throat. In other species the males are said to be maroon, cinnamon, chestnut, blue-grey, or glossy-black above. T. mutata of Madagascar may be dimorphic. Nuchal collars, elongated silky flank-feathers, and spots or stripes below, are not infrequent in the Family.
Fig. 110.–Paradise Flycatcher. Terpsiphone paradisi. × ⅓.
Flycatchers are common in the Ethiopian, Indian, and Australian Regions; and several species are Palaearctic, four or five reaching Europe. Most of them are migratory, the Spotted Flycatcher nesting northwards to Tromsö and Archangel, the Pied Flycatcher nearly as far. They love wooded districts, and Gerygone even gloomy forests; while they are usually silent and solitary, feeding on little but insects, which are habitually caught upon the wing with an audible snap of the bill, though also procured upon the boughs or by darting to the ground. The graceful, undulating, or zigzag flight, and the sudden dash into the air, followed by a quick return to the perch, are especially characteristic, as is a frequent quivering of the wings and tail; Rhipidura motacilloïdes is Wagtail-like in habits; while Sisura inquieta, the "Grinder" of Australia, runs along the river-sides, or hovers like a Kestrel, making a grinding sound in the air, whence it descends vertically to secure its prey. Other species of Rhipidura pick flies off cattle, and rise and fall perpendicularly in the air, opening the fan-shaped tail or tumbling completely over. Malurus runs quickly, or bounds along with rapid hops. Most Flycatchers are tame, but several are pugnacious; Lanioturdus is stated to be gregarious; Parisoma creeps about thick bushes; Smicrornis clings to the branches like a Tit; Niltava and other forms eat berries and the like in late summer; Eopsaltria and Gerygone are very fond of insect-larvae. The voice is usually faint, but is harsh in Terpsiphone, Smithornis, and Batis, croaking in Piezorhynchus and Lanioturdus; Sisura whistles; Gerygone, Malurus, and our Pied Flycatcher, have pleasing Redstart-like songs; while that of Microeca, which often soars aloft when singing, is said to resemble the strain of the Chaffinch. The neat nest, usually formed of grass, moss, leaves, bark, fibres, or hair, and not infrequently decorated with lichens or cobwebs, is placed in low forks or cavities of trees, if not among creepers or outgrowths on banks, Terpsiphone preferring higher situations. Gerygone builds a covered pear-shaped structure, with or without a protecting porch, of like materials, lined with fur or feathers, and suspends it in shrubs; Malurus and Smicrornis make rounder fabrics; while that of Ochromela is somewhat similar, but is composed of grass and ferns, and usually placed in low vegetation. The eggs, in number from two to six, are greenish- or buffish-white, with red, brown, or rarely grey, spots and blotches; exceptionally they are uniform light blue, as in Muscicapa atricapilla; white, as in Chelidorhynx; apple-green, green-blue, or whitish, with reddish-brown, yellowish, or lilac markings, as in Eopsaltria; or white, with red or purplish spots, as in Malurus, Chasiempis, and Gerygone.
Fam. VII. Turdidae.–This group is here divided into five Sub-families, (1) Turdinae or Thrushes and their allies; (2) Myiodectinae; (3) Sylviinae or Warblers; (4) Polioptilinae; and (5) Miminae or Mocking-birds. The first and third of these are often considered separate Families, but they are so closely connected by the Saxicoline and Ruticilline forms that they can hardly lay claim to such rank, while the Accentorinae and Regulinae of certain authors seem unnecessary. The Miminae shew some affinity to the Wrens (Troglodytidae).
Sub-fam. 1. Turdinae.–In this section the bill is usually rather long and stout, being notched but hardly curved, with few, if any, basal bristles; it is somewhat hooked in the so-called genus Geocichla–where it is much lengthened in five species, and abbreviated in G. princii; large, broad, and arched in Turnagra (a doubtful member of the Family); comparatively short and slender in Sialia, Ruticilla, Erithacus, Saxicola, and so forth; more robust in Accentor. The metatarsus is long in Catharus, Calliope, and Notodela, but is usually moderate, being particularly strong in Geocichla, Nesocichla, Zoothera, and Turnagra; in Saxicola, Erithacus, and Daulias it is at once slender and elongated. Generally the anterior scales are fused together, forming an ocreated covering (p. [10]), but the opposite sometimes occurs, as in Accentor, Nesocichla, and Thamnobia. Typically the wing is fairly long and broad, with abbreviated outer primary, the next feather being emarginated in some species of Myrmecocichla; but in Dr. Sharpe's group Thamnobiae,[[283]] it is generally abbreviated and more rounded, in Sialia it is pointed. The tail may be long and wide, as in Turnagra, or comparatively short, as in Monticola and Pratincola, but is usually of medium length; it is normally square or rounded, though emarginated in Sialia, and much graduated in Copsychus and Cittocincla, while in Cossypha natalensis it has pointed feathers. Turdus (Geocichla) varius, T. horsfieldi, and T. hancii have fourteen rectrices.
The coloration is ordinarily plain black or brown, more or less varied with grey, white, rufous, or chestnut, occasionally in the form of a collar; many Thrushes, moreover, exhibit the characteristic white breast spotted with brown. The bill is frequently orange or yellow. As examples of the genus Turdus we may take our native Blackbird, Mistletoe- and Song-Thrushes T. merula, T. viscivorus, and T. musicus; our summer visitor the Ring-Ousel, T. torquatus; our winter immigrants the Redwing and Fieldfare, T. iliacus and T. pilaris; the American "Robin," T. migratorius; and the Ground-Thrushes ("Geocichla,") with their light patch under the wing. The sexes are commonly alike, but black or grey males have usually brownish females. A bushy crest occurs in Catharus.
Of some ten Rock-Thrushes (Monticola), M. saxatilis occurs exceptionally in Britain. It has a cobalt and blackish-blue head, neck, and upper back, a nearly white mid-back, brown remiges, chestnut lateral rectrices and lower surface. M. cyanus is almost entirely blue. The browner hens are generally spotted and barred below. Cochoa viridis is green and black, with blue-green under parts, and blue on the head, tail, and wings; C. purpurea has the bright colours replaced by purplish-brown and lavender; C. azurea is mainly rich blue, becoming purple below. The females are duller. Blue-birds (Sialia) are bright blue, often with chestnut breast or back, the males being the most brilliant; Grandala caelicolor is indigo, with blackish wings and tail.
