i.9» TRAVELS IN 
Natum, as the lowia Caffra, on the authority ofThiihberg; 
and in the same book, with more propriety, as the emheriza 
long'icmida. The changes that this bird uridergoes are still 
more extraordinary than those of the grenadier. The black 
feathers of its tail, which are fifteen inches long, while the 
body is barely five., are placed in vertical positions like those 
of the domestic cock. The bounty of nature seems to have 
been extended to this bird to its disadvantage ; its tail, when 
on the wing, impeding, instead of assisting, its flight. This 
long tail, however, endures but the season of love. In the 
winter it assumes the same as that of the female, short, brown, 
and horizontal, and it can then fly like other birds. The 
change of plumage, in many birds, from that of the male to 
the female, and the contrary, has led some speculative natu- 
rahsts to adopt an opinion that a change of sex also actually 
takes place. This, however, is not the case with respect to 
the two birds in question. The long-tailed finch appears to 
be one of those few of the feathered tribe that, in a state of na- 
ture, are found to be polygamous. I have frequently seen 
from thirty to forty of their nests together in one clump of 
reeds, but never more than two males at one place. The con- 
struction of their nests is very curious. They are entirely 
composed of green grass neatly plaited into a round ball, and 
knotted fast between the stems of two reeds. The entrance 
is through a tube whose orifice is on the under side, next to 
the water. 
' The termination of the Snowy mountains is about twelve 
miles to the north-eastward of Compassberg ; and here a port 
or passage through the last ridge opens upon a plain extend- 
