A Handsome Scissorstail 97 



As his name indicates, our bird is the proud possessor 

 of a genuine scissorstail, composed of two long, slender 

 prongs that are spread far apart under certain conditions 

 of flight. Let me describe the process minutely, for it is 

 unique here in North America where fork-tailed birds 

 are rare. 



When the bird starts up from a perch, he spreads 

 apart the prongs of his tail for a moment, as if to give 

 himself a spring; then he closes them in a single slender 

 stem, tapering outward to a point, keeping them closed 

 during prolonged flight, and just as he sweeps down to 

 another perch, he opens his ornamental scissors again, 

 shutting them up as soon as he has settled upon his resting 

 place. He does not open and close his tail at regular 

 intervals during flight, as might be supposed, but keeps 

 it closed until he descends to a perch, when it is opened 

 for a moment in the act of alighting. However, if he has 

 occasion to wheel or make a sudden turn in the air, either 

 for an insect or in a playful prank, his scissors fly open, 

 one might almost say spontaneously, no doubt serving 

 the double purpose of rudder and balancing pole. When 

 closed, the tail is very narrow, looking almost like a single 

 plume. On the perch (except when he desires to shift 

 his position, when he also makes. use of his wings) his 

 tail is closed. Therefore the picture of this bird in 

 Dr. Coues's "Key to North American Birds" is not accu- 

 rate, for it represents our bird in the sitting posture with 

 the tines of his fork spread apart. If the wings were out- 

 stretched, representing the bird in the act of alighting 



