210 



3JERtfLfi*N, OR LONG-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 



Myiagra longicauda, SWAINS. 



PLATE XXV. 



Entirely caerulean blue, paler beneath; tail lengthened and 

 considerably graduated ; rictal bristles as long as the bill. 



THERE are so many Flycatchers, generally so called, 

 whose plumage is entirely blue, although of dif- 

 ferent tints and shades, that it is quite impossible to 

 determine this species from among those in our sys- 

 tems at present in use. It was formerly in Bullock's 

 Museum, and stated to come from New Holland, a 

 locality not at all improbable ; for although we have 

 never yet seen any species of Muscipeta from Aus- 

 tralia, it affords several species of the present sub- 

 genus. 



The general structure, as already observed, ac- 

 cords more with that of the typical Myiagra than 

 with any other of the neighbouring groups ; for the 

 tail, although long, is graduated, and not fan- 

 flhaped, as in Rhipidura^ while the prolongation 

 of the middle feathers, although but slight, induces 

 the belief that this bird is an annectant species be- 



