MT7SCIPETA. 203 



crest which is very different from those of its con- 

 geners. Here, then, we have two rasorial characters. 

 But this is not all for this little species is the 

 turkey-cock of its own group; it erects its crest, 

 and spreads out its tail precisely as do the typical 

 fowls*. Our acquaintance with this remarkable 

 bird unfortunately depends at present only upon 

 the figure and description of Le Vaillant ; we are 

 therefore unprepared to say whether it really belongs 

 to this sub-genus or to Rhipidura; the figures 

 would lead to the former supposition, while the 

 habits just mentioned would incline us to the 

 latter. In either case, it is a most beautiful exem- 

 plification of the rasorial type. We have seen 

 among the todies, that the variation of species is 

 regulated by the same law as the variation of groups. 

 Nor is this bird the only instance in the little 

 group before us. We have the aquatic type in Le 

 Vaillant's Nebuleux, which he describes as thicker 

 in the body, living only upon insects found near 

 streams, and building its nest on boughs overhang- 

 ing the water. This bird, moreover, is coloured 

 black and white, and, but for its two long tail- 

 feathers, might be mistaken for a species of Fluvi- 

 tola. Next, we have the tenuirostral type in the 

 Cordon noir of the same author, who describes the 

 bill as altogether smaller and weaker than in any 

 of the other species, and the tail as considerably 



* " Cette huppe lui forme un belle Crete qu'il releve 

 en meme terns qu'el epanouit sa queue etagee, en lui faisant 

 f aire la rane comme le coq d'Inde, ou le grand te'tras qui a la 

 meme faculte." Le Vaill. 



