rather convex at the sides in front of nostrils; hook of upper mandible
and emargination slightly developed. Bristles at angle of mouth
short and scanty. Wings rounded, and when folded extend a little beyond
the base of the ta il; the fourth and fifth quill feathers equal and
longest, the third and sixth equal and slightly shorter, the second and seventh
rather shorter than the sixth, the first about half the length of the second,
broad and regularly formed. Tail long and slightly rounded ait the point -
tarsi in front scutellated superiorly and inferiorly, entire in the middle and
posteriorly. Outer and inner toes equal and considerably shorter than the
middle toe; hinder toe nearly the same length as the lateral toes. Claws
pointed, and moderately curved; the claws of the hinder toes longest and
strongest.
DIMENSIONS.
Inches. Lines. Inches. Lines from the point of the bill to Length of the tarsus ............. .......... 1 b
the tip of the tail...-....... 7 i * . of the outer toe .......... ........... 0 4>
of the bill from the gape..... 0 9 of the middle toe......... ........... 0 pt
of the tail ........................ 3 2 of the hinder toe.......... ........... 0 3£
of the wings when folded ... 3 3
In size and colour the female is like the male.
The first specimen of this species was procured in lat. 26° South, and between that parallel
and the tropic of Capricorn we obtained many others. All the individuals seen were upon low
trees or high brushwood close to rivers, either at rest on the branches or actively seeking among
the foliage for insects, which constitute their food. When in motion they were frequently
observed to raise and depress the tail by jerks, after the manner of the M o ta c illa , and occar
sionally, though not often, to slightly spread and elevate the wings like the S axicolte. They
shewed nothing of the shyness and vigilance of the latter, the approach of man appeared to give
them little uneasiness, and when a specimen was once seen, little precaution was necessary to
ensure its acquisition for our collection.
Though this bird differs in some of its habits from the one upon which Mr. Vigors constituted
the genus Cossypha, yet in others, as well as in its structure, it assimilates so nearly to it as
not to justify us in continuing to regard it as of a different group. Cossipha vocifera, Vig.,
frequents similar localities to our bird, and moves about among the branches of trees after the
same manner, but as far as we have observed it never jerks its tail or wings. The bird described
by Levaillant, under the name of Jan Frederic* (Cossipha P e c to ra lis ), resembles strongly in its
habits C. h ume ralis; it occurs in similar situations, moves its tail in the same way, and in the
mode in which the colours are distributed there is considerable similitude. There is one material
difference, however, to be observed between them, C. p ec to ra lis is more on the ground than
on trees or shrubs; C. humeralis again is but rarejy seen upon the ground.
* Oiseaux d’Afrique, Plate cxi.