SENEGAL COLY . — Colius macrocercus. 
The Colies are inhabitants of Africa and India ; and as their plumage is of a 
soft and silken character, and generally of sober tints, they often go by the name 
of Mouse-birds, a title which is also due to their mouse-like manner of creeping 
among the boughs or trees. 
The Senegal, or Long -tailed Coly, is found in Africa, in the country from 
which it derives its name. 
It is a pretty bird, and, as it traverses the branches, has a peculiarly elegant 
appearance ; its long tail seeming to balance it in the extraordinary and varied 
attitudes which it assumes, and its highly movable crest being continually raised 
or depressed, giving it a very spirited aspect. 
It is a gregarious bird, living in little companies of four or five in number, 
and is continually jumping and running about the branches in search of its food, 
which consists of fruit and buds. The grasp of its feet is very powerful, as 
much so, indeed, as that of the parrot ; and, while traversing the boughs, it may 
often be seen hanging by its feet, with its head downward, and occasionally 
remaining for sometime suspended by a single foot. In climbing from one 
branch to another, as in lowering themselves, the Colies frequently use their 
beaks to aid them, after the well-known practice of the parrots. 
The colour of the Senegal Coly is greyish chestnut above, and pearl grey below. 
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