COSSIPHA HUMERALIS. 
rather convex at the sides in front of nostrils ; hook of upper man- 
dible and emargination slightly developed. Bristles at angle of mouth 
short and scanty. Wings rounded, and when folded extend a little be- 
yond the base of the tail ; the fourth and fifth quill feathers equal and 
longest, the third and sixth equal and slightly shorter, the second and seventh 
rather shorter than the sixth, the first about half the length of the second, 
broad and regularly formed. Tail long and slightly rounded at the point ; 
tarsi in front scutellated superiorly and interiorly, entire in the middle and 
posteriorly. Outer and inner toes equal and considerably shorter than the 
middle toe ; hinder toe nearly the same length as the lateral toes. Claws 
pointed, and moderately curved ; the claws of the hinder toes longest and 
strongest. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length from the point of the bill to 
the tip of the tail 7 1^ 
of the bill from the gape 0 9 
of the tail 3 2 
of the wings when folded ... 3 3 
Inches. Lines. 
Length of the tarsus 1 0 
of tbe outer toe 0 4 
of the middle toe 0 6'J 
of the hinder toe 0 3^ 
In size and colour the female is like the male. 
The first specimen of this species was procured in lat. 26° South, and between that parallel 
and the tropic of Capricorn we obtained many others. All the individuals seen were upon low 
trees or high brushwood close to rivers, either at rest on the branches or actively seeking among 
the foliage for insects, which constitute their food. When in motion they were frequently 
observed to raise and depress the tail by jerks, after the manner of the MotacillcB, and occa- 
sionally, though not often, to slightly spread and elevate the wings like the Saxicolce. They 
shewed nothing of the shyness and vigilance of the latter, the approach of man appeared to give 
them little uneasiness, and when a specimen was once seen, little precaution was necessary to 
ensure its acquisition for our collection. 
Though this bird differs in some of its habits from the one upon which Mr. Vigors constituted 
the genus Cossypha, yet in others, as well as in its structure, it assimilates so nearly to it as 
not to justify us in continuing to regard it as of a different group. Cossipha vocifera, Vig., 
frequents similar localities to our bird, and moves about among the branches of trees after the 
same manner, but as far as we have observed it never jerks its tail or wings. The bird described 
by Levaillant, under the name of Jan Frederic* ( Cossipha Pectoralis ), resembles strongly in its 
habits C. humeralis; it occurs in similar situations, moves its tail in the same way, and in the 
mode in which the colours are distributed there is considerable similitude. There is one mate- 
rial difference, however, to be observed between them, C. pectoralis is more on the ground than 
on trees or shrubs ; C. humeralis again is but rarely seen upon the ground. 
* Oiseaux d’Afrique, Plate cxi. 
