A STUDY IN BIRDS' TAILS. 24! 



and Mr. Caley says that " it frequents the small trees and bushes, 

 from which it darts suddenly at its prey, spreading out its tail 

 like a fan, and to appearance turning over like a tumbler pigeon, 

 and then immediately returning to the same twig or bough from 

 which it sprang." The tail is long, ample, and rounded, the 

 lateral feathers are more or less white, there being some degree 

 of variation in the extent to which this colour pervades them. 



A curious diversity exists in the tail of Cunningham's Bush 

 Shrike when compared with the tail of the bird last dealt with. 

 Mr. Vigors named the bird after Colonel Cunningham of Rio 

 Janeiro. In some respects this Shrike appears to be somewhat 

 similar to that of our own Red-Backed variety but the mur- 

 dering propensities of the last-named do not, I believe, exist in 

 Cunningham's Bush Shrike. The tail is brownish black, whilst 

 the general colour of the bird is ash grey. 



The Black-Cap Titmouse is somewhat similar in its general 

 colouring to that of the British Marsh Tit. The tail of the 

 American species, however, is worth inclusion in this article, 

 being of a very attractive and formidable description. In many 

 respects this Tit resembles our own indigenous Titmice family, 

 but, according to Nuttall, the Black-Cap Tit feeds to a greater 

 extent upon seeds of many kinds, particularly those of an oily 

 description, such as the Sunflower, Pine, and Spruce kernels. 

 The tail feathers are blackish grey, edged with greyish white. 



The tail of the Long- Winged Swift is strikingly curious. This 

 is a species of a very singular group of Swifts, which have the 

 tail-feathers spined, and even more rigid than those of the 

 Woodpeckers; by this structure, as Mr. Swainson remarks, the 

 birds can remain for a considerable time in the most perpen- 

 dicular situations. The expanded tail, he adds, thus acts as a 

 powerful support, which is further increased by the size and 

 strength of the claws. It is a short tail, with the shafts prolonged 

 into acute points. 



The Paradise Whydah Bird is remarkable for the development 

 of long caudal plumes in the male bird, characteristic of the 

 breeding season, and subsequently lost. It is subject twice a 

 year to changes of plumage, which, it is said, results in such 

 a marked difference that it is with some difficulty one and the 

 same bird is recognised. The long feathers fall off towards the 



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