The DWARF FLY-CATCHER (_Erythrosterna parva_) has been selected as the
representative of a distinct group, on account of its comparatively
powerful beak and high tarsi. The length of this bird is about five and
its breadth about eight inches. Its plumage is so diversified as to have
given rise to many errors concerning the number of species. During the
spring the upper part of the body of the adult male is of brownish grey,
deepest in shade towards the head; the feathers of the larger wing-covers
and the posterior quills have a light edge; the chin, throat, lower and
upper breast are rust-red; the rest of the under side dirty white; the
primary quills are of a blackish brown-grey, enlivened by a light border.
In the young male the reddish brown upon the throat is paler than in the
adult bird, and all the colours in the plumage of the female are fainter
and greyer than in that of her mate. All have dark brown eyes, and black
beaks and feet.
The Dwarf Fly-catcher is found extensively throughout Poland and almost
the whole of Germany, where it seems to prefer the shelter of the
beech-woods, living principally in the summits of lofty trees, and rarely
approaching the vicinity of man or descending to the ground. Its call
is generally a loud piping note; but the song varies so considerably in
different individuals as to be sometimes almost unrecognisable. The nest
is placed either in a hole or upon the branch of a tree, at some distance
from the trunk: it is formed of slender blades of grass vegetable fibres,
green moss, or similar materials, lined with wool and hair. The brood
consists of four or five eggs, of a greenish white, marked indistinctly
with light rust-red patches. Both parents assists in the work of
incubation, and exhibit extraordinary attachment to their young; the male
bird, however, devotes himself principally to tending and entertaining
his mate, whilst she undertakes the main part of the building operations.
No sooner are the nestlings capable of supporting themselves than they
leave their parents, and retire into the depths of the forests, where
they remain until their winter migrations. From the day when the parent
birds are separated from their families, their nature seems to undergo a
complete change, and they at once assume a quiet, inactive deportment,
that strongly contrasts with their previously sportive, busy habits.
Count Gourcy, who reared many of these Dwarf Fly-catchers, tells us
that they were readily tamed, and soon learnt to know him, welcoming
his approach to the cage by flapping their wings and waving their tails
above their heads. They bathed freely, and devoured insects in large
quantities, eagerly snapping at any fly that was unlucky enough to
approach too near.
* * * * *
The SILK-TAILS (_Bombycillæ_) possess a compact body, short neck, and
moderate-sized head. Their wing, in which the first and second quills are
longer than the rest, is of medium length, and pointed at the extremity;
the tail is short, and composed of twelve feathers; the straight, short
beak is broad, much compressed at its base, but raised and narrow at its
tip, the upper mandible being longer and broader than the lower one,
arched at its culmen, and slightly hooked at its extremity, which is
visibly incised. The feet are short and powerful, and the exterior and
centre toe connected by a fold of skin. The soft silky plumage upon the
head is prolonged into a crest, and some of the wing and tail feathers
terminate in horn-like laminæ. The coloration differs but little in the
two sexes.