MYIAGRIXiE. 447 



Interesting specimens from India showing this change. It has 

 been stated in a late No. of The Ibis that the long tail-feathers 

 of the African species are seasonal, and Sundevall appears to coun- 

 tenance this idea ; bnt from the different times at which I have 

 killed the Indian bird with its lengthened tail, I doubt if this can 

 be the case with it. Dr. Adams (P. Z. S. 1858, p. 495), appears to 

 think that the male bird alone assumes the white plumage ( in which 

 case the long tail-feathers would be seasonal, seeing that we often 

 get short-tailed white birds); and he also states that the females can 

 be distinguished from chesnut males by the color of the primaries, 

 which are brown in females, black in young males. 



This Paradise Flycatcher is found over the whole of India, from 

 the extreme South and Ceylon to the base of the flimalayas ; but 

 is replaced in the lower S. E. Himalayan ranges, and in 

 all the countries to the eastward, by the next species. It is more 

 or less a permanent resident in the forests and highly wooded dis- 

 tricts, but only a temporary sojourner in the more open parts of the 

 country, and the brief and uncertain visits it pays to many stations 

 are perhaps the cause of its vai'ious changes not having been fully 

 observed. It does not, in general, ascend hills to any great height 

 above the level of the sea, and I have not seen it higher than about 

 2,000 ft. It is very partial to bamboo-jungle, and is said to breed 

 in bamboo clumps. 



In its habits it is restless and wandering, flitting continually 

 from branch to branch and from tree to tree. It feeds chiefly on 

 small flies and cicadellae, almost always capturing them on the 

 . wing, sometimes picking one off a leaf or bough. I never saw it 

 descend to the ground, as mentioned by Sykes. It is usually single, 

 or in pairs. Its flight is somewhat undulating, and it has a curious 

 appearance on the wing, its long tail moving in jerks. I have heard 

 no note except a rather loud harsh grating cry of alarm. I have 

 never seen its nest. Layard says that it makes a neat nest of moss 

 and lichens, lined with hair and wool. The Ceylon names of the 

 bird are Fire-thief and Cotton-thief respectively for the red and 

 white birds. 



I have kept this Flycatcher alive for a few days in a closed room, 

 and it used to be flitting about, catching flics and mosquitoes, the 



