FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 163 
have ever extended as far as Canada, notwithstanding the 
statements of authors to the contrary. It may be proper to 
observe, that the difference indicated by Linné and Latham 
between the variety which they suppose to inhabit Canada 
and that of Surinam, appears to have no existence in nature. 
Although this bird is so very rare and accidental here, we 
should be led to suppose it a more regular suramer visitant 
of the southern States, were it not impossible to believe that 
so showy a bird could have escaped the observation of travel- 
lers ; hence we infer that the fork-tailed flycatcher must be 
included in the catalogue of those species which are mere 
fortuitous visitors to the United States. As but a single 
specimen of this bird has been obtained, I cannot give any 
account of its manners and habits from personal observation. 
The native country of the fork-tailed flycatcher is Guiana, 
where it is rather common, and is improperly called veuve 
(widow), from the great length of its tail, in which character 
only it resembles the African birds of that name. 
The habits of the fork-tailed flycatcher resemble those of 
other species of the same genus. It is a solitary bird, remain- 
ing for a long time perched on the limb of a tree, whence it 
occasionally darts after passing insects ; or, flying downwards, 
it alights on the tufts of herbage which appear above the water, 
affording it a resting-place in the midst of those partially 
inundated lands called savannas, beyond the limits of which 
it is not frequently seen. While on the tuft, this bird moves 
its tail in a manner similar to that of the wagtails. Besides 
insects, the fork-tailed flycatcher feeds occasionally on vegetable 
substances, as, on dissection, the stomach of our specimen was 
found to be filled with pokeberries (Phytolacca decandra, L.) 
Beyond these particulars, we have no positive knowledge of 
the manners of our flycatcher, though Vieillot has recorded a 
history of some length, taken from D’Azara; but the bird 
observed by the latter author in Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, 
though closely allied, appears to be specifically distinct from 
the one we are describing. Vieillot has since been convinced 
