SWALLOW-TAILED NAUCLERUS. 191 



and, having seized the prey, devour it in the air. 

 " At other times they dash along the trunks of 

 trees, and snap off the pupae of the locust, or that 

 insect itself;" or, " in calm and warm weather, 

 they soar to an immense height, paisuiiig the 

 large insects called mosquito hawks, performing 

 the most singular evolutions that can be con- 

 ceived, and using their tail with an elegance of 

 motion peculiar to themselves."* 



The same author we have just now quoted, 

 records the breeding places of this bird to be on 

 trees, the nest resembling that of a crow, being 

 composed of dried sticks, and lined with grass 

 and a few feathers. The eggs are of a greenish 

 white colour, with a few irregular blotches of 

 dark brown at the larger end. 



Not possessing a specimen, we abstain from 

 giving a minute description of the plumage. Our 

 figure will, however, give a tolerable idea of the 

 rich contrast which the prevailing tints of pure 

 white and deep glossy blackish green afford. The 

 young birds are said to be at first covered with 

 buff coloured down, and, in their first plumage, 

 to want the changing tints of the adults. The 

 length appears to be from twenty-three to twenty- 

 six inches. 



We now proceed to the third aberrant form, 

 the 



* Auduhon's Orn Bic*. I. p. 369. 



