MUSCIPETA. 
203 
crest which, is very different from those of its con- 
geners. Here, then, we have two rasorial characters. 
But this is not all — for this little species is the 
turkey-cock of its own group; it erects its crest, 
and spreads out its tail precisely as do the typical 
fowls*. Our acquaintance with this remarkable 
bird unfortunately depends at present only upon 
the figure and description of Le Vaillant; we are 
therefore unprepared to say whether it really belongs 
to this suh-genus or to Rhipidura ; the figures 
would lead to the former supposition, while the 
habits just mentioned would incline us to the 
latter. In either case, it is a most beautiful exem- 
plification of the rasorial type. We have seen 
among the todies, that the variation of species is 
regulated by the same law as the variation of groups. 
Nor is this bird the only instance in the little 
group before us. We have the aquatic type in Le 
Vaillant’s Nebuleitx, which he describes as thicker 
in the body, living only upon insects found near 
streams, and building its nest on houghs overhang- 
ing the water. This bird, moreover, is coloured 
black and white, and, but for its two long tail- 
feathers, might he mistaken for a species of Fluvi- 
tola. Next, we have the tenuirostral type in the 
Cordon noir of the same author, who describes the 
bill as altogether smaller and weaker than in any 
of the other species, and the tail as considerably 
* — “ Cette hnppe lui forme un belle Crete qu’il releve 
en meme tenm qu’el dpanouit sa queue etagee, en lui faisant 
faire la rane eomme le coa d’Inde, ou le grand t£trao qui a la 
meme faculte.” Le Vaill. 
