Cock-tailed Tyrant 617 



on the wing, like the typical Tyrant-birds. They have likewise another and 

 unique preying habit. The bird perches itself on an elevation the summit 

 of a stalk or bush or even of a low tree - to watch like a Flycatcher for its insect 

 prey, only instead of looking about for passing insects it gazes intently down- 

 ward at the ground, just as a Kingfisher does at the water, and when it spies 

 a beetle or a grasshopper, darts down upon it, not, however, to snatch it up as 

 other Tyrants do, but it first grasps it with the feet, then proceeds to despatch 

 it. Often devouring the insect on the spot, it flies back to its perch to resume 

 the watch." The nesting habits of this species are uncertain, but the closely 

 allied Black-crowned Tyrant (T. coronata) is said by the same authority to make 

 a somewhat shallow nest in a bush or large clump of grass, and to lay four 

 white eggs, with large dark spots, chiefly at the larger end. 



Cock-tailed Tyrant. Of the many other forms in this group we may mention 

 the Cock-tailed Tyrant (Alectmrus tricolor], a curious little bird, also of the 

 pampas region, having the outer tail-feather on each side with a stout shaft and 

 a very broad inner vane, these two feathers being carried vertically and at right 

 angles to the plane of the body, giving the bird the appearance of a diminutive 

 cock, whence its common name. Even more remarkable is the Strange-tailed 

 Tyrant (A. risorius], in which the outer tail-feathers on each side make up eight 

 inches in a total length of eleven inches. In these feathers the "vane on the 

 inner side of each is wanting for the first two inches, and then suddenly develops 

 to a width of nearly two inches, which it maintains almost to the tip, when it 

 gradually narrows. The vane on the outer side of the shaft is only about one 

 quarter of an inch wide and is folded so tightly against the shaft as to be quite 

 inconspicuous." During flight, which is described as weak, these enormous 

 feathers are folded beneath the rest of the tail and stretched out behind like a 

 rudder or steering oar, the vanes at right angles to the plane of the other tail- 

 feathers. 



The members of the second group (Platyrhynchince), to the number of about 

 twenty genera and over one hundred species, are forest-haunting birds, almost 

 all of small size and dull olive or gray-colored plumage. Structurally they have 

 much broadened bills and thinner tarsi, the latter to adapt them to an arboreal 

 life. Inhabiting similar places, but differing in having the bill compressed 

 instead of flattened, are the Olive Tyrants (Elaineina), embracing about the 

 same number of genera as the other group. They are further characterized 

 by weak feet and generally short wings, while the colors are olive-green and 

 dark brown. Both groups inhabit the dense forest regions of Central America 

 and northern South America, very few reaching as far north as Mexico. Not 

 much of interest is recorded regarding their habits, though Dr.Goeldi has recently 

 mentioned the fact that certain members of the latter group, such, for example, 

 as Myiopatis semifusca, is guilty of sowing the seeds of Loranthus, a mistletoe- 

 like plant which is very destructive to fruit and other trees. We may now well 

 pass to the final group (Tyrannince), which includes the typical Tyrant-birds, 

 among which are most of the largest members of the family. They are also 

 more widely distributed, including most of the North American members of 



