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dull white, with a patch of light brown across the upper part
of the breast, and a few dark brown streaks or spots upon
that and the chin, with a clear white space between ; the
sides and flanks tinged with yellowish brown ; legs, toes, and
claws, black.
Males and females are alike in plumage.
The whole length of the bird is five inches and five-eighthsi
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather,
three inches and three-eighths : the first feather of the wing
very short, only about one-third of the length of the second ;
the second very little shorter than the fourth; the third feather
the longest of the whole.
The young, when ready to leave the nest, are truly Spotted
Flycatchers, each brown feather having a buff-coloured tip,
the ends of the great wing-coverts forming a pale wood-brown
bar across the wing ; under surface white. After their first
moult, they may be distinguished from older birds by the
broader buff-coloured outer margins of the tertials.
1NSESSORES,
DENTIROSTRES.
MUSCICAP1DÆ.
TH E P IED FLYCATCHER.
Muscicapa atricapilla, Pied Flycatcher,
luctuosa,
P enn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 473.
Mont. Ornith. Diet.
B ewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 210.
F lem. Brit. An. p. 63.
Selby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 143.
J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 97.
Gould, Birds of Europe, pt. vii.
T he P ied F lycatcher is much less numerous as a species
than its generic companion last described, and, except in
certain localities, is a rare bird in England. It can be con