SHORT-TAILED FYE. 
IHIS beautiful bird, which is deposired in 
the Bi^Itish Museum, was brought by Gover- 
nor Loteii from the island of Ceylon. It is 
called by Edwards, who first figured it, the 
Short-Tailed Pye of the East Indies, ** Bris- 
son," says luuvards, *' has figured and de- 
scriBed it, or something very near it: by his 
saying the iris of the eye is " blanchatre," I 
suppose the bird was brought alive lohim. He 
calls it, " Merle Verd des Moluques;" that is, 
the Green Blackbird of the Molucca Islands. 
Albin," Edwards remarks, calls it the 
Bengal Quail in his description, and the Quail 
from the Cape of Good Hope on his plate ; 
though it is nothing of the Quail kind, nei- 
ther the bill nor feet a<rreeinor at all with birds 
of that genus. But Albin," adds Edwards, 
*' is so trifling an author, that it is pity any 
rcspetSlable writer on birds should have named 
him. His books are, mostly, a lame and er- 
roneous transcript of Willughby ; and the 
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