196 COLY. 



a situation of equal height, insensibly descending at last to the bot- 

 tom ; when it climbs up again, and descends by degrees, alternately, 

 as before.* 



These birds are called at the Cape, Mouse Birds, on account of 

 their delicate and soft plumage, and their frequently creeping about 

 the roots of trees, as the mouse does; are destructive in gardens, 

 eating not only fruits, but the buds of trees, as soon as as they appear. 

 The wings reach very little beyond the base of the tail. 



M. Levaillant is of opinion, that several of these, here described, 

 belong to one and the same Species, of which no doubt his local 

 information may have greatly enabled him to judge ; but we find this 

 to be the case in other Genera, as many of them seem to approach 

 each other in appearance, which, in fact, are quite distinct as 

 species. It has therefore determined us to give the descriptions of 

 authors, as we find them. It does not appear that any of the Coly 

 Tribe are found in America. 



1— CAPE COLY. 



Colius Capensis, Ind. Orn. i. 368. Gm. Lin. i. 842. Daud. ii. 361. 



Loxia Colius, Lin. i. 301.f Spalowsk. Vog. iii. t. 41. 



Colius Cap. B. Spei, Bris.'m. 304. t. 16. 2. Id. 8vo. 1. 394. 



Le Coliou du Cap. de B. Esp. Buf. iv. 404. PL ml. 282. 1. 



Cape Coly, Gen. Syn. iii. 100. Shaiv's Zool. x. p. 2. pi. 1. 



SIZE of a Chaffinch ; length ten inches and a quarter, of which 

 the tail is six inches and three quarters. Bill grey, with a dusky 



* The Flying Squirrel of America almost equals this bird, as far as may be called its 

 flight, from one tree to another, and in a similar manner ; for, by means of a broad mem- 

 brane, extended between the fore and hind legs, this animal is rendered very buoyant in the 

 air, and specifically lighter, so as to leap from bough to bough, at least thirty or forty feet, 

 though it always sinks considerably before it can reach the place it aims at. 



t So far as he gives a distinction of Species, Linnaeus is right, but he describes some 

 other bird by mistake, viz. cinereous, spotted with grey, beneath brown, marked with 

 round white spots, a purple head, and a forked black tail. I cannot recollect such a bird. 



