Birds of America
By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.
VOLUME I.
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.