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MUSCIPETA, 



of Cuvier, will be here restricted to the long-tailed 

 flycatchers of Africa and India, distinguished, at 

 the first glance, by the excessive length of their 

 two middle tail-feathers, which are often longer 

 than all the rest of the bird together. These beauti- 

 ful plumes, however, are only to be found in the 

 males during the season of breeding, for at other 

 times they have the tail like that of the female, 

 that is, simply graduated, or very much rounded. 

 It is not to be supposed, however, that Nature 

 passes abruptly from such birds as are in the last 

 division to these long-tailed flycatchers; and we 

 accordingly find, that one species, at least, is desti- 

 tute of these feathers at all seasons. Le Yaillant 

 describes the long-tailed species as very wild and 

 quarrelsome ; but his Gobe-mouches mantele is such 

 a tame and gentle bird, that a pair of them actually 

 made a habit of frequenting the inside of his tent, 

 where they took their station on the furniture to 

 catch the flies, destitute of all fear on his approach- 

 He particularly alludes to this species " having an 

 advantage" over the others in the superior ornament 

 of a moveable crest of pointed feathers, which 

 extend some way beyond the occiput ; a sort of 



