44 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



the ombu, which is planted in front of many of the farm houses, and thence 

 takes short flights in pursuit of insects. From the remarkable structure of its 

 tail, the inhabitants of the country call it scissor-tail ; a name very well applied 

 from the manner in which it opens and shuts the forked feathers of its tail. Like 

 all birds thus constructed, (of which the frigate bird offers a most striking 

 example), it has the power of turning very shortly in its flight, at which instant 

 it opens and shuts its tail, sometimes, as it appears, in a horizontal and sometimes 

 in a vertical plane. When on the wing it presents in its general appearance a 

 caricature likeness of the common house swallow {Hirundo rustica). The 

 Muscivora, although imquestionably belonging to the family of Muscicapidae 

 manifests in its habits an evident relationship with birds of the fissirostral 

 structure. 



Sub-Gen. PYROCEPHALUS, Gould. 



MUSCICAPA. Auct. 

 MUSCIPETA. CuV. 



Tyrannula. Stvain. 



Rostrum capite brevius, rectum, depressum, basi setis numerosis nigris obsessum ; 

 mandibuld superiore emarginata, inferiorem obtegeute ; naribus rotundatis patulis. 

 Caput subcristalum. Alee longte ; reniige prima secundum tertiamque longissimas 

 subcpquales fere (Bquante. Tarsi mediocres, atUich sciitellali; digitis lateralibus ina- 

 qualibus, exteriore longioie. Cauda mcdiocris quadrata. 



Mr. Gould observes, that " the males of nearly all the members of this group 

 (which may be considered either as a distinct genus or sub-genus of Myiobius), 

 have the crown of the head and greater part of the under surface scarlet. Four 

 species were obtained. — Pi/rocephalus parvirostris,( Gould), a.nd Muse icapa cor onata, 

 (Auct.), may be taken as types. 



1. Pyrocephalus parvirostris. Gould. 



Plate VI. 



Le Churrinche, Azara. No. 177- 



P. suprhfuscus ; capite et subtus nitide puniceis ; rectricibus exterioribus tectricumquc 

 et secundariorum apicibus griseo-marginatis . 



Long. tot. 5J^ unc; ahr, IS-J^; cmidep, -^ '> tarsi, -^ ; rost. ■^-. 



Crown of the head, crest, and all the under surface, bright scarlet ; the remainder 



