ly-catcher.—Straw-coloured beneath; head and neck rufous, spotted with black; feathers of the back and wing coverts cinereous, edged with greenish; quill feathers black, edged with gray; tail black and short. Hardly three inches long. Inhabits Cayenne.
Purple-throated fly-catcher.—Black; chin and throat with a large purple red spot. Twelve inches long. Inhabits woods in South America, is gregarious, feeds on fruits and insects, and often associates with the toucan.
Pied fly-catcher.—Black above; under parts, spot on the front and shield on the wings, white; lateral tail feathers white without; bill and legs black; tail coverts spotted with white. Female brown; white beneath, and wants the frontal spot. About the size of a linnet, and nearly five inches long. There are three or four varieties, and the young birds at first resemble the female. It is local, and by no means plentiful in this island, affecting wild and uncultivated tracts of furze. According to Dr Latham, it builds in some hole of a tree, not very near the ground, making a nest of a few fibres, mixed with moss, and laying six eggs.
Chattering fly-catcher.—Green; yellow beneath; belly Viridit. and vent whitish; eyebrows and spot under the eyes whitish; tail brown. Seven inches and three quarters long. Haunts unfrequented places in Carolina; is very shy, and flies with its legs extended.
Azure fly-catcher.—Blue; hind head and breast with a black spot; belly and vent bluish-white; quill and tail feathers dusky-blue. Five inches long. Inhabits the Philippine islands.
Fan-tailed fly-catcher.—Olive above, ferruginous beneath; eyebrows, chin, throat, sides of the neck, and lateral tail feathers white; middle tail feathers, head, and collar black. Six inches and a half long. Inhabits New Zealand. Flies with its tail expanded like a fan; and is easily tamed.
Black fly-catcher.—Totally black; bill, head, and legs dusky black. Inhabits Society islands.
Active fly-catcher.—Olive-brown; whitish beneath; quill and tail feathers black, and edged with olive-brown. Four inches and a half long. Inhabits Cayenne. Is continually hunting after insects, which it picks out from under the bark of trees.
Spotted fly-catcher.—Brownish, whitish beneath; neck longitudinally spotted; vent pale-rufous; bill black, whitish at the base; inside of the mouth yellow; head large, brownish, and spotted with black; back moulte-coloured; wings and tail black; the former edged with white; chin spotted with red; legs black. About the size of the tit-lark; length five inches and a half. Inhabits Europe. This bird visits us in spring, and departs in September. It frequents orchards and groves, and will make its nest on the limb of some fruit-tree nailed against the wall, or in a hole, sometimes in outbuildings, on the end of a beam or rafter, and at other times against the body of a large tree, on the stump of a decayed branch. The nest is formed of bents, mosses, and such materials, interwoven with spiders' webs, and lined with feathers. The female lays four or five eggs, not much unlike those of the redbreast, but rather less, and the rufi-coloured spots more distinct, and not so much confined to the larger end. Its food seems to be entirely winged insects, though it is said to be particularly fond of cherries, probably from the circumstance of its frequenting the cherry tree for the sake of flies that are attracted by the fruit. As soon as the young birds leave the nest, they are led by the old ones to some neighbouring wood or grove where insects abound, and where they may be seen darting in every direction in pursuit of flies, and frequently returning to the same station. The note of this species is a simple weak chirp, not frequently used till after the young are fledged, so that the bird, though not uncommon, is not readily discovered.