plain figure is a more faithful representation than that given in his coloured engravings.

From the very great rarity of the fork-tailed flycatcher in this region, and the advanced season in which this individual was killed, it is evident that it must have strayed from its native country under the influence of extraordinary circumstances; and we are unable to believe that its wanderings have ever extended as far as Canada, notwithstanding the statements of authors to the contrary. It may be proper to observe, that the difference indicated by Linné and Latham between the variety which they suppose to inhabit Canada, and that of Surinam, appears to have no existence in nature.

Although this bird is so very rare and accidental here, we should be led to suppose it a more regular summer visitant of the Southern States, were it not impossible to believe that so showy a bird could have escaped the observation of travellers: hence we infer, that the fork-tailed flycatcher must be included in the catalogue of those species which are mere fortuitous visitors to the United States. As but a single specimen of this bird has been obtained, I cannot give any account of its manners and habits from personal observation.

The native country of the fork-tailed flycatcher is Guiana, where it is rather common, and is improperly called veuve (widow,) from the great length of its tail, in which character only it resembles the African birds of that name.

The habits of the fork-tailed flycatcher resemble those of other species of the same genus. It is a solitary bird, remaining for a long time perched on the limb of a tree, whence it occasionally darts after passing insects; or, flying downwards, it alights on the tufts of herbage which appear above the water, affording it a resting place in the midst of those partially inundated lands, called savannas, beyond the limits of which it is not frequently seen. While on the tuft, this bird moves its tail in a manner similar to that of the wagtails. Besides insects, the fork-tailed flycatcher feeds occa

sionally on vegetable substances, as, on dissection, the stomach of our specimen was found to be filled with pokeberries, (Phytolacca decandra, L.)

Beyond these particulars we have no positive knowledge of the manners of our flycatcher, though Vieillot has recorded a history of some length, taken from D'Azara; but the bird observed by the latter author in Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, though closely allied, appears to be specifically distinct from the one we are describing. Vieillot has since been convinced of this difference, and, in the (French) New Dictionary of Natural History, he has separated the more southern species under the name of Tyrannus violentus. In colour that bird strongly resembles our Muscicapa savana, but it is considerably smaller, and has different habits, being gregarious; whilst the savana is a solitary bird.

Another species, for which ours may be readily mistaken, is the Tyrannus bellulus, Vieill. which, however, is much larger, with a still longer tail, differing also by having a large black collar extending to each corner of the eye, margining the white throat; and the head of the same bluish gray colour with the other superior parts of the body; the remaining under parts being of the same colour, with a narrow brown line in the middle of each feather; and by having a whitish line on each side of the head behind the eye, extending to the occiput. The Tyrannus bellulus is a native of Brazil.

16. MUSCICAPA FORFICATA, LATHAM.

SWALLOW-TAILED FLYCATCHER.

BONAPARTE, PLATE II. FIG. I.

THE plate given by. Buffon of this rare and beautiful bird conveys but an imperfect idea of its character. That author had the merit of publishing the first account of the species; and the individual he described was received from that part of Louisiana which borders on

Mexico. Neither Latham, Gmelin, nor Vieillot, seem to have had an opportunity of examining this bird, as they have evidently drawn on Buffon for what they have said relative to it. Hence it appears that the swallow-tailed flycatcher has never been obtained from the time of Buffon to the period of Major Long's expedition to the unexplored region it inhabits. The present specimen, which is a fine adult male, was shot by Mr Titian Peale, on the 24th of August, on the Canadian fork of the Arkansaw river.

Although this bird is very different from the forktailed flycatcher, yet, on account of the form of the tail, and the similarity of the common name, they are apt to be mistaken for each other, and, when both are immature, some caution is required to avoid referring them to the same species. Notwithstanding this similarity, some authors have placed the fork-tailed flycatcher in their genus Tyrannus, and the present bird in Muscicapa, whereas, from an inspection of the bills, it will at once be seen, that the latter would be still more properly placed in their genus Tyrannus, as the form of its bill is exactly the same with that of the kingbird, the type of the subgenus.

The swallow-tailed flycatcher, when in full plumage, is eleven inches long. The bill and feet are blackish; the irides are brown (red, according to authors.) The upper part of the head and neck is of a light gray; the back and scapulars are dark cinereous, tinged with reddish brown; the rump is of the same colour, but strongly tinged with black, and the superior tail-coverts are deep black; the under part of the body is milk white, the flanks being tinged with red; the inferior tail-coverts are pale rosaceous; the wings are brownish black, the upper coverts and secondaries being margined externally and at tip with dull whitish; the under wing-coverts are whitish rosaceous; the axillary feathers, above and beneath, are of a vivid scarlet colour. The tail is greatly elongated and excessively forked; it is of a deep velvet black colour, each feather having the terminal margin of a dull whitish tint, and the shafts

white at their bases. The three exterior feathers on each side are of a delicate pale rosaceous colour on a considerable part of their length from the base. The external one is five inches and a half long; the second and third gradually decrease in length, but the fourth is disproportionately shorter, and from this feather there is again a gradual decrease to the sixth, which is little more than two inches long.

The female of the swallow-tailed flycatcher is probably very similar to the male, but the colours of the young bird are much less vivid, and the exterior tail-feathers are much shorter than those of the adult.

The swallow-tailed flycatcher is as audacions as the kingbird, attacking with unhesitating intrepidity, and turning the flight of the most powerful of the feathered tribe. Its note consists of a chirping, sounding like tsch, tsch, much resembling that of the prairie dog, (Arctomys ludoviciana, Ord,) by which it deceived the members of Long's party into a belief that they were approaching one of the villages of this animal.

"A note, like that of the prairie dog, (writes Say,) for a moment induced the belief that a village of the marmot was near, but we were soon undeceived by the appearance of the beautiful Tyrannus forficatus in full pursuit of a crow. Not at first view recognizing the bird, the fine elongated tail plumes occasionally diverging in a furcate manner, and again closing together, to give direction to the aërial evolutions of the bird, seemed like extraneous processes of dried grass, or twigs of a tree, adventitiously attached to the tail, and influenced by currents of wind. The feathered warrior flew forward to a tree, whence, at our too near approach, he descended to the earth, at a little distance, continuing at intervals his chirping note. This bird seems to be rather rare in this region; but, as the very powder within the barrels of our guns was wet, we were obliged to content ourselves with only a distant view of it."

The range of the swallow-tailed flycatcher appears to be limited to the trans-Mississippian territories, lying

on the southwestern frontier of the United States, more especially frequenting the scanty forests, which, with many partial, and often total interruptions, extend along the Arkansaw, Canadian, and Platte rivers, where in some districts they do not seem to be very uncommon.

17. MUSCICAPA VERTICALIS, BONAPARTE.

ARKANSAW FLYCATCHER.

BONAPARTE, PLATE II. FIG. II.

THIS bird, brought from the Rocky Mountains by Major Long's exploring party, is so closely allied to many imperfectly described species of the extensive genus to which it belongs, that ornithologists, at first sight, may very reasonably doubt its pretensions to rank as a new species. But, notwithstanding any doubt that may be produced by its similarity to others, it is certainly an addition to the already numerous catalogue of flycatchers.

The total length of the Arkansaw flycatcher is eight inches. The bill is similar to that of the crested flycatcher, but is more rounded above, and more abruptly inflected at tip, being of a blackish colour, as well as the feet. The head above, and nucha, are pure pale plumbeous; the crown has a restricted bright orange spot in the middle, invisible when the feathers are at rest; there is a dusky spot between the bill and eyes. The cervix and back are pale plumbeous, tinged with olivaceous, and deepening on the rump almost to blackish, which is the colour of the superior tail-coverts. The chin is whitish; the throat and upper part of the breast are of the same colour as the head, but paler; the remaining under surface, including the inferior wing and tail-coverts, is yellow. The wings are brown, the secondaries being margined exteriorly with whitish; the inner webs of the primaries are whitish towards the base, and near the tips they are narrowed; the first is remarkably so, being almost falciform. The tail is of a deep brown black colour, and very slightly