44 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



the ombu, which is planted in front of many of the farm houses, and thence 

 takes short flights in pursuit of insects. From the remarkable structure of its 

 tail, the inhabitants of the country call it scissor-tail ; a name very well applied 

 from the manner in which it opens and shuts the forked feathers of its tail. Like 

 all birds thus constructed, (of which the frigate bird offers a most striking 

 example), it has the power of turning very shortly in its flight, at which instant 

 it opens and shuts its tail, sometimes, as it appears, in a horizontal and sometimes 

 in a vertical plane. When on the wing it presents in its general appearance a 

 caricature likeness of the common house swallow (Hirundo rustica). The 

 Muscivora, although unquestionably belonging to the family of Muscicapidse 

 manifests in its habits an evident relationship with birds of the fissirostral 

 structure. 



Sub-Gen. PYROCEPHALUS, Gould. 

 Muscicapa. Auct. 



MUSCIPETA. CuV. 



Tyrannula. Swain. 



Rostrum capile brevius, rectum, depressum, basi setis numerosis nigris obsessum ; 

 mandibuld superior -e emarginatd, inferior em obtegente ; naribus rotundatis patulis. 

 Caput subcristalum. Alee long a ; remige prima secundum tertiamque longissimas 

 subcequales fere cequante. Tarsi mediocres, antice scutellati; digitis lateralibus in<e- 

 qualibus, exteriore longiore. Cauda mediocris quadrata. 



Mr. Gould observes, that " the males of nearly all the members of this group 

 (which may be considered either as a distinct genus or sub-genus of Myiobius), 

 have the crown of the head and greater part of the under surface scarlet. Four 

 species were obtained.— Pyocephalus parvirostris,( Gould), and Muscicapa coronata, 

 (Auct.), may be taken as types. 



1. Pyrocephalus parvirostris. Gould. 



Plate VI. 

 Le Churrinche, Azara. No. 177. 



P. suprcifuscus ; capite et subtus nitide puniceis ; rectricibus exterioribus tectricumque 

 et secundariorum apicibus griseo-marginatis . 



Long. tot. 5^ una; alw, 13^; caudce, 2-^; tarsi, -^ ; rost. T fl o. 



Crown of the head, crest, and all the under surface, bright scarlet ; the remainder 



