that town, to Mr. Titian Peale, who favoured me with the opportunity
of examining it. :
Brisson published tË& first account of this bird. That we havfe
rejected the name given by Linné may appear contrary, to our principles;
but in this instance we certainly have no option, inasmuch as
the same name has been very properly retained by Wilson, agreeably
to Brisson, for the Lanins tyrannus of Linné. Had Linné himself
included them both in the same genus, he w'ould doubtless bare
retained that specific name-for the Kingbird, whfehs is'unquestionably
a Muscicapa and not a Lomus. 'ÂÈ the Kingbird is'-ajgjj^« abundant
species, known ft'd^every zoological reader by the name ó$ifyrannus,
it is obvious that lëss inconvenience will life produced by changing
tbe name of an almost unknown species, than would
altering that of one with which wè-are-so familiar.. We4^^e therefore
adopted Yieillot’s specific name of savana, taken by tnât author
from MontbeiHard, -who, in Buffon’s work, rncrelij ’ehde.uourcd "to
commemorate this bird’s habit of frequenting inundated savannas.
Naturalists who separate Tyrarmus from Muscicapa genetically,
disagree with respect 'to the arrangement î^df this For
ourselves, We consider the “former as a sub-genus of^Musdchpa,
including-r-the larger species, among which our- Forfcrtailed Flycatcher
must be placed.
This species is fourteen inches long, its tail measuring nearly ten;
the extent from the tip of one wing to that of the other is fourteen
inches. The bill is somewhat more slender and depressed at base
than that "of the Kingbird, and, iak- well as the feet, is black. The
irides are brown. The upper part of the head, including ïtffê cheeks
and superior origin of the neck, is velvet-black. The feathers of the
crown are somewhat slender, elevated, and of a yellow-orange colour
at base, constituting a fine spot, not visible when they are in a state
of repose ; the remaining part of the neck above and the back are
grayish-ash ; the rump is of a much darker grayish-ash, and gradually
passes into black, which is the colour of the superior tail coverts;
thejAnferior surface-of « e bddy, from the base of the bill, as well as
the «under wing and under tail co^|TH|S5,;ii^;pur,e white. The wings are
dusky, the cojfertsijbeing somewhat lighter at tip and on the exterior
sj,de; the first primaryjs;;edged.with whitish qjytbqjexterior web, and
^jgpgual in lengbli^jjrlje^ttjuiithqt'ithg^cchnd primary is longest; the
three, outej^Sngs have a very t extraordinary and- profound sinus or
notch (ijah their ntear hhe itip,- so as to tahninate in a
slendeu|pii.o,ces,s. uThe tail is^ppry,profoundly forked, the two exterior,
feathers,! measuring i^ ^ ^ y a ten inches in perfect individuals,
whilst the two succeedjpg arp but fiyp^in.hhe|j long, andythe other
feathers become,-gradually and propor^bn^yfshorter, until those in
>thei,middlehre_ scarcely twpsanchps in length; the tail is, in fact, so
deeply divided, that dlltirchtwohextcriah feathers yore removed, it
^oulcl stall exhibit a, .very forked, u All the tail feathers
-are, black, thj^cvflyjjUj^iii^o'aeh.si'dc» beings ybite on the remarkably
narrow outer web, and -on|fehft4sfaaft beneath.i-feE nearly three-fourths
of 4ts\ length.>
I cannot agree with^hqs^i^o, say «that |fe^femalc;as distinguished
•from the other sex by wanting (the .orange spot on the head, as I
think we, may s^^oconclu'defjt from analogy, «that there is / hardly
any difference between the sexes .^TJjp^fJung&birda are readily
recognized, by being destathjqjof that spot, as well as by having the
head cinereous, instead of black; the ^olpUB. of the wholeiupper part
of nthe body is also darker, the tail considerablytshdrter,'*' and the
exterior feathers, not so much elongated as those-of the adult. It is
proper to remark, that,the-elongated tail feathers id^he'full grown
bird are sometimes, very much worn, "in consequence of the rapidity
with which it passes through the bushes.
Two coloured, figures have been given offr'the Fork-tailed Flycatcher,
the one- byfBuffon, which is extremely bad, although the
rectilinear foife of the tail-is.-ioorrectly represented; the other, by
Vieillot, which has the exterior tail feathers unnaturally curved,
and notwithstanding it is preferable to Buffon’s figure, yet it is far