348 THE YELLOW-BEEASTED CHAT. 



elongated into a graceful and elegant train, and in other species the tail is broad and fan- 

 like. In. colour the Flycatchers are mostly of sober but pleasing tints, but there are 

 several notable exceptions to the rule, such as the Crested Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus coro- 

 ndtus), remarkable for the crown of fiery scarlet feathers which decorates the top of the 

 head, the Blue Niltava (Niltdva sundara), which has its broad back and tail of a brilliant 

 azure, and the Selophagus picta, whose abdomen is of a bright scarlet. 



The bill of the Flycatcher is of various lengths, but is almost invariably rather hard 

 and flattened at the base, slightly curved at the point, and compressed towards the tip. 

 At the corners of the mouth are generally several long bristles like those of the nightjar 

 and probably placed there for the same purpose, i. e. to aid the bird in the capture of its 

 insect prey. The wings are long and firmly made, and the feet are slender and feeble in 

 comparison with the dimensions of the body. 



ONE of the sub-families into which the Flycatchers are divided is known by the name 

 of Vireontncs, or GREENLETS, on account of the constant presence of green in some part 

 of their plumage. They are all little birds, and are confined to the New World, inhabiting 

 America, Brazil, Guiana, and the West Indian Islands. They are mostly insect-feeders, 

 though they will vary their diet with fruits, berries, and other vegetable food. Many 

 species of Greenlets are known to ornithologists, and some of them are remarkable for 

 their eccentric habits and their curious mode of nesting. 



The YELLOW-BEEASTED CHAT of America is well worthy of notice, as it possesses a 

 very prettily coloured plumage and elegant form, and at the same time is one of the most 

 eccentrically behaved of the feathered creation, even surpassing in the whimsical oddity of 

 its manners the mirth-provoking evolutions of the Demoiselle crane. 



It is a partially migratory bird, having rather an extensive range in its native country, 

 and passing from north to south according to the season of the year, and the warmth or 

 inclemency of the weather. According to Wilson, it arrives in Pennsylvania about the first 

 week in May, and departs for the south in the month of August. As is usually if not 

 invariably the case with birds, its migrations are restricted to a narrow line, which runs 

 almost due north and south, and the male birds always make their appearance before their 

 mates. Of the habits of this bird, Wilson gives the following interesting description. 



" When he has once taken up his residence in a favourite situation, which is almost 

 always in close thickets of hazel, brambles, vines, and thick underwood, he becomes very 

 jealous of his possessions, and seems offended at the least intrusion ; scolding every 

 passenger as soon as they come within view in a great variety of odd and uncouth 

 monosyllables, which it is difficult to describe, but which may be readily imitated so as to 

 deceive the bird himself, and draw him after you for half a quarter of a mile at a time, as 

 I have sometimes amused myself in doing, and frequently without once seeing him. On 

 these occasions his responses are constant and rapid, strongly expressive of anger and 

 anxiety, and while the bird itself remains unseen, the voice shifts from place to place 

 among the bushes as if it proceeded from a spirit. 



First is heard a repetition of short notes resembling the whistling of the wings of a 

 duck or a teal, beginning loud and rapid, and falling lower and slower, till they end in 

 detached notes ; then a succession of others, something like the barking of young puppies, 

 is followed by a variety of hollow, guttural sounds, each eight or ten times repeated, more 

 like those proceeding from the throat of a quadruped than that of a bird, which are 

 succeeded by others not unlike the mewing of a cat, but considerably hoarser. 



All these are uttered with great vehemence, in such different keys and with such 

 peculiar modulations of voice as sometimes to seem at a considerable distance, and 

 instantly as if just beside you ; now on this hand, now on that ; so that from these 

 manoeuvres of ventriloquism you are utterly at a loss to ascertain from what particular 

 spot or quarter they proceed. If the weather be mild and serene, with clear moonlight, 

 he continues gabbling in the same strange dialect, with very little intermission, during the 

 whole night, as if disputing with his own echoes, but probably with a desire of inviting 

 the passing females to his retreat ; for when the season is further advanced, they are seldom 

 heard during the night." 



