312 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



species. It is usually known as the Scissor-tail from the habit of closing 

 and opening the long feathers of the tail like the blades of a pair of scissors. 

 The adult female is very similar, though rather smaller. The young is not 

 conspicuously different, only lacking the concealed patch of the head. 



Habits. The Swallow-tailed Flycatcher ajDpears to be a common species 

 from Central Texas to the Eio Grande, and thence throughout Mexico to 

 Central America, as far south at least as Guatemala. It is also found in 

 the Indian Territory, where it breeds, specimens of the nest and eggs having 

 been obtained at the Kioway Agency by Dr. E. Palmer. 



It was found very plentiful at Langui, in Honduras, by Mr. G. C. Taylor, 

 and also in fewer numbers in other localities. In the evening, just before 

 roosting time, they were in the habit of assembling on the tops of certain 

 favorite trees, where they remained until nearly dark. They then all went 

 off to the woods. He generally met with them on open ground, not much 

 encumbered by trees or brushwood. 



Mr. Dresser states that he found this very graceful bird quite abundant at 

 Matamoras and in Western Texas, where it is known by the name of 

 " Texan Bird of Paradise." He found it as far east as the river Guadaloupe. 

 It arrives, he states, in the neighborhood of San Antonio, late in March, and 

 remains until the middle or latter end of October. It breeds abundantly 

 near San Antonio, building its nest in a mesquite or other tree, and lays 

 from three to four eggs, which, as he states, are pure white, blotched with 

 large spots of a dark red color. 



He adds that these birds are of a quarrelsome and fearless disposition, 

 rarely brooking intruders near their homes. During the breeding-season 

 Mr. Dresser has often, when travelling, stopped to admire four or five of 

 them fighting on the wing. They show their long tail-feathers and the 

 rich scarlet color under their wings to the fullest advantage. After passing 

 Guadaloupe Eiver, he saw none of these birds to the eastward, though he 

 was told they have occasionally been seen on Galveston Island. 



This Flycatcher was met with at Eagle Pass, in Lower Texas, and in 

 Tamaulipas by Mr. Clark and Lieutenant Couch, in the Mexican Boundary 

 Survey. None were found occurring west of the valley of the Eio Pecos. 

 Mr. Clark states that he always saw them either following one another 

 through the air, or perched upon some solitary twig. In their gyrations the 

 scissors were always more or less expanded, suggesting the idea of bal- 

 ancers. Their nests were built of sticks, lined on the inside, though not 

 very softly, with grass, and were placed almost invariably on dry limbs 

 of the mesquite. They contained from three to five eggs, and, what was 

 quite remarkable, more than one pair always seemed to have an interest in 

 the same nest, over which they were all very watchful, and gave proofs of 

 their courage by darting at the intruders. He describes their notes as short 

 and sharp, without much variation, and they can be heard at quite a distance. 

 The Mexicans imagine that this Flycatcher lives on the brains of other birds. 



