MUSCICAPA.
Bill wide at base; rictal bristles conspicuous; legs short and feet weak; nest open on wall or tree trunk, or in a hole; eggs pale bluish green unspotted or clouded or blotched with reddish brown.
Muscicapa grisola grisola L. SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Fr. Gobe-mouche gris ; Ger. Fliegenschnapper ; 1 tal. Piglia mosche ; Swed. Gra Flugsnappare.
6 Q adult. Above pale brown, crown dark streaked with white margins on forehead ; beneath white, with dark brown streaks on breast and flanks axillaries pinkish buff. Bill horn black, pale at base below. Legs and feet black. Wing 82-91. Tarsus 14-16. Bill 9-1o. Young spotted both above and below.
Breeds. —All Europe and British Isles, north to Finmark and Archangel, east to Urals, where it interbreeds with "neumanni " ; south to Mediterranean and N. Africa, Tunis to Morocco (in Morocco south to Crete, Asia Minor. Migrates ; occurs Egypt on passage, winters in tropical and S. Africa.
grisola neumanni Poche. Upper surface paler generally and streaks below distinct but fainter.
A Western Asiatic race whose range reaches the Caucasus. Has occurred in winter in E. Africa.) M. grisola tyrrhentea Schiebel. Striations on crown and underparts less sharply defined.
Breeds.— Corsica and Sardinia.
M. grisola. balearica Jordans. Breast striping less distinct than in "grisola " but not so faint as in "tyrrhcnica" ; white feather edges on crown broader.
1?reeds.—Majorca (Balearic Islands).
Muscicapa atricapilla atricapilla L. PIED FLY CATCHER. Fr. Gobe-mouche noir ; Ger. Trauer-Fliegenfinger. Balia nera ; Swed. Svart och hvit Flugsnapparc.
d adult, summer. Above black ; forehead white (5-6 m.m.), base of primaries and secondaries mostly white, forming a double speculum ; 2nd primary equal to or slightly shorter than 5th ; beneath white ; almost always some white on outer web of two outer pairs of tail feathers (amount of white on rectrices is variable in all races, and occasionally absent). Bill, legs and feet black.
Wing 76-83, 4 74-80. Tarsus 17-19. Bill 8-to. Winter : black above replaced by brown ; white patch on forehead lost ; upper tail coverts black, rump brown with some black feathers ; tail and primaries brownish black. 9 like winter 8', but rump and upper tail coverts brown and tail dark brown. Young : dark brown above, with buff spots ; beneath pale buff with blackish spots.
Breeds.—Europe north to E. Finmark, England, Scotland (local), Finland, C. Russia north to 6e and east to Urals, Perm, Ufa and Samara. In Holland, Belgium, N. and C. France, Spain, Austria, and Hungary chiefly on passage but some breed. Migratory ; occurs on passage Balkan Peninsula, Portugal, Mediterranean generally, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Egypt and N.W. Africa. Winters in tropical Africa.
M. atricapilla speculigera Bonaparte.
White on forehead greater in extent (7-9.5 man.) ; specula in wings larger and more visible in closed wing ; generally no white on outer margins of outer tail feathers ; 5th primary distinctly longer (5-7 limn.) than znd.
Breeds.—N. and C. Algeria, N. Tunisia, Morocco ; Sierra da Estrella, Portugal (Witherby).
M. atricapilla semitorquata Homeyer. White of throat extending round sides of neck but not meeting ; some white on outer webs of three outer pairs of rectrices. Wing 81-84 (H.).
Breeds.—Greece, Asia Minor to Caucasus and Persia.
1VIuscicapa albicollis Te MM.; RC... COLLARED FLY