AFRICA. 387 
of the river, in order to llioot a few birds be- 
fore the heat fhould commence ; for the north 
wind, v/hich in thefe latitudes performs the 
fame office as the fouth in France, feemed to an- 
nounce a very fcorching day. At ten o'clock 
I returned with a few birds, and among 
others a red long-tailed fly-catcher, which I 
confidered, and very juftly, as a happy dif- 
covery. This charming animal, the predomi- 
nant colour of which is indeed a mod beau- 
tiful red, has a ftill more beautiful tufc on its 
head, and two very long feathers in its tail, 
which give it an air of dignity that the fe- 
male does not Ihare with it. This advantage, 
however, the male does not enjoy but in the 
breeding feafon, which continues three months : 
after that period thefe two feathers drop of 
themfelv^s, and nothing then diftinguifhes 
the male from the female but a browner tint. 
We muft not confound this fpecles of bird 
with one of the fame kind defcribed by Brif- 
fon and Buffon, under the name of the long- 
tailed crefted fly-catcher of the Cape of Good 
Hope ; for this bird is not found at the Cape : 
it belongs to India, and particularly to th^ 
ifland of Ceylon, and differs much from mine. 
The marks by which they are diftinguifhed 
C c 2 will 
