_Myiobius pallidus._—+Mihi.+
[45] Length 6¹⁄₄ inches, expanse 8¹⁄₂, flexure 2⁸⁄₁₀, tail 2⁵⁄₁₀,
rictus ¹³⁄₂₀, breadth at base ⁷⁄₂₀, tarsus ⁶⁄₁₀, middle toe ⁴⁄₁₀.
Irides hazel; feet black; beak very depressed, lateral margin
convex, upper mandible black, lower pale fulvous, dark at tip.
Upper parts olive-brown; wing-quills black, third longest; greater
coverts, secondaries, and tertiaries edged with pale brown. Tail
blackish, emarginated. Throat ashy, tinged with yellow. Breast,
belly, sides, and under tail-coverts, yellowish-brown. Under
wing-coverts dull-buff.
There is much resemblance between this species and the _Tyrannula
megacephala_ of Swainson’s Birds of Brazil, pl. 47; but they are
manifestly distinct.
In unfrequented mountain roads, bordered by deep forests, the Flat-bill
is very common, and from its fearlessness easily obtained. In the
autumn months, the traveller may observe a dozen or more in the course
of a mile, sitting on the projecting branches of the way-side woods.
There is, however, nothing like association of one with another; like
the other Tyrants, it is quite solitary, at least in its occupation.
It flies very little, the wings being short and hollow; but sits on
a twig, and leaps out at vagrant flies, which it catches with a loud
snap, and returns; it utters a feeble squeak as it sits. Sometimes it
emits a weak wailing cry, as, it flits from one tree to another.
The analogies often observed between animals possessing no affinity,
is curious. The flat, weak bill, darker above than below, the general
form, the hollow wings, the loose plumage, and the habit of sitting on
a low twig unmoved by the presence of man, this species possesses in
common with the Tody.