Tyrant Shrikes of America, 283 



Size of a lark; bill black, and smaller than that of T. intrepidus; 

 sides, ears, and upper part of the head deep black, concealing 1 a crest of 

 bright yellow on the crown ; general colour of the upper plumage light 

 cinereous, changing to blackish on the rump : wings gray-brown, rather 

 lengthened ; the two first quills abruptly emarginated, or notched, very 

 near their extremities ; the exterior web of the first quill is pale yellow : 

 all the under plumage is pure white. The tail is black and very long ; 

 the exterior pair of feathers exceed the rest by nearly three inches, and 

 are margined externally, to half their length, by pale yellow. The tarsi 

 are short and black. 



Inhabits Brazil, where it is, however, rare; in other parts of South 

 America it seems to be more common. 

 Total length ll£, bill ■&, wings 4 J, tail 7, depth of the fork 4%, tarsi •&. 



Sp. 18. Tyr annus longipennis. Sp. Nov. 

 Gray fork-tailed Tyrant. 



T. cinereus ; mento albente ; cauda fusca, longa, furcata. 

 Cinereous ; chin whitish ; tail brown, long, and forked. 



Size of the last, but the bill is smaller and more depressed. The whole 

 of the plumage, both above and beneath, is cinereous or slate-coloured ; 

 the feathers on the crown form an incumbent crest, and are obscurely 

 streaked with blackish ; the chin is nearly white. The wings are long, 

 and of a uniform sooty-black; all the primaries are gradually pointed, but 

 the second is particularly narrow, and the point acute. The tail is con- 

 siderably lengthened, (though much shorter than that of the last,) deeply 

 forked, and sooty-black : the exterior pair of feathers are nearly three- 

 quarters of an inch longer than the others, and are margined externally 

 with white. Tarsi short, as in T. Savana, 



Discovered in Brazil by If. Natterer, Zoologist to the Austrian Govern- 

 ment ; but I am not aware of its being yet described. 



Total length 9-|, bill t 8 q, wings 4J, tail 5, depth of the fork ]£, tarsi T V 



In this attempt to characterize the leading groups among the 

 Tyranni, it will be seen that their distinctions principally rest 

 on characters hitherto considered of little importance. I have 

 therefore found it necessary to give detailed, and often minute, 

 descriptions of those species, whose identity was in any way 

 questionable. Had this not been done, the modifications by which 

 nature gradually passes from one form to another, could not have 

 been traced. It must also be remembered, that the clear eluci- 

 dation of species more particularly concerns the application of 

 Natural History to the practical purposes of life ; while nothing 

 will more contribute to aid the general views of those naturalists, 

 who study the grander operations of nature. 



