388 FORKED-TAILED FLYCATCHER.
MUSCÍCAPA TYRANNUS, Linn. vol. i. p. 3 2 5 Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 484.
MUSCÍCAPA SAVANA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 67-
FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, MUSCÍCAPA SAVANA, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith.
vol. i. p. 1. pi. 1. fig. 1—Nuttall, Manual, part ii. p. 274.
Adult Male. Plate CLVIII.
Bill of moderate length, rather stout, straight, broad at the base,
compressed towards the end; upper mandible with the dorsal outline a little
convex, the sides convex, the edges sharp and nearly perpendicular, with
a very small notch close upon the small deflected tip; lower mandible
with the back broad, the sides rounded, the edges sharp and inflected.
Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong, partly covered by the bristly feathers.
Head rather large, depressed, neck short, body rather slender. Feet
rather short; tarsus compressed, rather sharp before and behind, anteriorly
covered with broad scutella; toes free, the hind toe not proportionally
larger ; claws slightly arched, compressed, acute.
Plumage soft, blended, slightly glossed. Basirostral bristles strong.
Wings rather long, second quills longest, third a little shorter, first almost
as long as third, all the three curiously cut into near the end, with
a sharp sinus, the rest of the quills to the tip being extremely slender.
Tail with the lateral feather extremely elongated, very deeply forked,
the middle feathers being of ordinary length, the intermediate ones graduated.
Bill and feet black. Iris dusky. Head and cheeks deep black, the
feathers of the crown deep yellow at the base, that colour being visible
only when the crest is elevated. The back is ash-grey, becoming darker
behind, so that the tail-feathers are blackish-brown, margined with grey.
Wing-coverts and quills blackish-brown, slightly margined with grey, as
is the tail, of which, however, the outer web of the lateral feather is
white for half its length from the base. The lower parts are white.
Length 14£ inches, extent of wings 14 ; bill along the ridge along
the edge tarsus j \ . Outer tail-feathers 10, the next 4f, the middle
ones 2\.
The Female resembles the Male.
FORKED-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 389
GORDONIA LASIANTHUS, Willd, Sp. PI. vol. iii. p. 840. Pursh, Fl. Amer. Sept.
VOL Ü. p. 451.—MONODELPHIA FoLYANDRIA, Linn.
This beautiful small tree is met with in Georgia, South Carolina, and
Florida, in moist lands near the coast, and never fails to attract the eye
by its beautiful blossoms. The twig from which the drawing was made
was procured from the garden of Mr NOISETTE, who liberally afforded
me all the aid in his power for embellishing my plates. The leaves are
evergreen, lanceolato-oblong, shining, and leathery ; the flowers white, of
the size of the common garden-rose, and placed on long peduncles; the
capsules conical and acuminate.