250 
BIEDS. 
[Chap. VIII. 
natives "the Cotton Thief," from the circumstance that 
its tail consists of two long white feathers, which stream 
TCHITPJ3A PARADISI. 
behind it as it flies. Mr. Layard 
says : — "I have often watched 
them, when seeking their insect 
prey, turn suddenly on their perch 
and whisk their long tails with a 
jerk over the bough, as if to pro- 
tect them from injury." 
The tail is sometimes brown, and 
the natives have the idea that the 
bird changes its plumage at stated 
periods, and that the tail-feathers 
become white and brown in alter- 
nate years. The fact of the va- 
riety of plumage is no doubt true, 
but this story as to the alternation 
