IORA SCAPULAEIS. 
inclining to yellow; it is more saturated on the back and neck, and becomes pale and - 
yellowish on the coverts of the tail and forehead. The same colour, but more 
diluted, covers the abdomen and vent. The throat, breast, and cheeks have a bright 
lemon yellow tint. A narrow border of this colour also marks the outer margin of 
the quill and secondary feathers, while the latter have interiorly a whitish margin. 
Each of the greater coverts of the wing is terminated obliquely by a broad white 
band, and the disposition of these feathers occasions a single, or in some instances 
two irregular, nearly parallel, longitudinal lines on the wing. The general colour 
of the quill and secondary feathers is dark brown, inclining to black. The plumes 
of the lower part of the back and the abdomen, and hypochondrias, are greatly 
lengthened ; and their filaments are soft, silky, and much subdivided, so as to con- 
stitute a thick coat surrounding these parts like a muff. The under side of the 
wing is brown at the extremity ; a white discoloration extends obliquely backward, 
occasioned by the white border of the inner vane of the quill feathers. The tail 
consists of twelve feathers, which are close at the base, and inserted in a double 
series, above each other ; the exterior feathers, and those that are lowest in their 
insertion, are somewhat shorter, so as to afford a moderate rotundity to the tail. 
The intermediate feathers are regular, and have an uniform tint of olive, inclining 
to brown ; on the exterior feathers the inner vane is broader : they are somewhat 
obliquely inserted, and they have exteriorly, and at the extremity, a yellow border ; 
the shafts are deep brown. The irides have a white or pale yellow colour, and the 
bill and feet are blueish. The nostrils are posteriorly covered by a membrane, and 
a few short slender bristles, arising from the forehead, stretch over them. 
The Iora scapularis is a bird of social habits, and resorts to the vicinity of human 
dwellings : indeed it appears to have retired from the forests, and established itself in 
the trees and hedges which surround the villages and plantations. The structure of its 
wings does not enable it to take long continued excursions, but it shews itself by short 
and frequent flights between the trees and branches. It is most lively in the middle 
of the day, when, under a burning sun, the inhabitants uniformly retire to rest : early 
in the morning, and towards the approach of night, it is rarely perceived; but 
during the silence prevailing at noon, it enlivens the villages with the song of 
Cheetoo, Cheetoo, which it repeats at short intervals, during its sportive sallies 
between the branches. It feeds on small insects, and its economy is in some measure 
illustrated by the comparative length and sharpness of the bill, and by the broken 
or splintery state in which the claws are frequently found. The laminae, or plates 
which compose them, are separated, and the sides are marked with small fissures, 
which appear to be occasioned by incessant use in scraping the bark of trees. 
