is eminently characteristic. Their food of insects is captured on the wing by a sudden dart from a perch, to which they usually return. While waiting for their prey the wings are often drooped, and in some species the tail is frequently wagged. Son^. — By the systematist the Flycatchers are spoken of as "songless Passeres." That is. while agreeing in structure with other perching birds in most respects, they differ from them in possessing a less highly developed syrinx or lower larynx — the voice-making organ. Naturally, the birds with the best instrument can and do produce the sweetest, most intricate music, but it does not follow that those which are not so well provided are silent. Song, therefore, in proportion to the develop- ment of the musical apparatus is as much a possession of the Flycatchers as it is of the Thrushes. They sing, but they do not sing so well as their talented distant relatives. Indeed, the songs of Flycatchers, reflecting their imperfect instruments, are primitive in character. What Bird is This? Field Description.. — Length, 5.90 in. Crown streaked chestnut and black, with an ashy medium line; nape grayish; back streaked with rufous, buff, and black, wings and tail more or less rufous: under parts whitish, ashy on the breast, brownish on the sides; abdomen whitish. Note. — Each number of Bird-Lore will contain a photograph, from specimens in the American Museum of Natural History, of some comparatively little-known bird, or little-known plumage, the name of which will be withheld until the succeeding number of the magazine. The species figured in October is Nelson's Sparrow.
