Family VII. MUSCICAPINAE. FLYCATCHERS.

Bill depressed, triangular, compressed at the end, upper mandible notched, lower with the point slightly ascending. Head rather large, depressed; neck short; body rather slender. Feet generally short; tarsus short, slender, with very broad scutella; toes four, free; the hind toe not proportionally large; claws arched, compressed, acute. Plumage soft and blended. Wings long, with the first quill generally long, the outer three longest. Tail various. Tongue flattened, sagittate, bristly at the tip; oesophagus wide, without crop; stomach elliptical, moderately muscular, with the lateral muscles distinct; the epithelium thin, dense, longitudinally rugous; intestine short; coeca extremely small; cloaca globular. Trachea simple; inferior laryngeal muscles forming on each side a large pad, but not divisible into several portions as in the singing birds. Nests regularly formed, cup-shaped. Eggs from four to six.