PUFF-BACKED BUSH SHRIKE. 241 
« 
■whole of its family. All the Bush-shrikes, as their 
generic name implies, have the feathers on the back 
unusually long and very soft ; but in the one now 
under consideration, these characters are developed 
in a most singular way. When the feathers on the 
hack are raised, as they occasionally are, by the 
bird itself, they seem to form ,a semicircular tuft of 
the most delicate and beautifully white down, ex- 
actly resembling that of the swan, and as if that 
part of the body was protected by an artificial tip- 
pet. When in a state of repose, this singular 
appearance completely vanishes, and the feathers 
repose on each other as in an ordinary bird. 
The abolition of topical or barbaric names by so 
many of our best modem ornithologists induees us 
to suggest that of Moliissiinus, as at all events pre- 
ferable to Cubla, derived, we suppose, from the 
Hottentot language, but which conveys no meaning 
whatever to European ears. 
The male and female are differently coloured. 
The first has the upper plumage black, glossy on 
the head, ears, neck, and interscapulars ; but brown 
on the wings and tail; on the lower part of the 
back the feathers are white, those on the surface 
having a grey tinge ; the scapulars, with the mar- 
gins of the wing-covers and quills, are dingy- 
white ; upper tail-covers and middle feathers deep 
black, the rest brown ; the whole of the under 
plumage is white. 
In the female there is no black whatever. All 
the upper plumage is light grey, palest on the rump, 
Q 
