FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER. 
265 
of the Southern States, were it not impossible to believe that 
so showy a bird could have escaped the observation of travel- 
lers ; hence we infer, that the fork-tailed flycatcher must be 
included in the catalogue of those species which are mere for- 
tuitous visitors to the United StateSo As but a single speci- 
men of this bird has been obtained, I cannot give any account 
of its manners and habits from personal observation. 
The native country of the fork-tailed flycatcher is Guiana, 
where it is rather common, and is improperly called veuve (wi- 
dow), from the great length of its tail, in which character only 
it resembles the African birds of that name. 
The habits of the fork-tailed flycatcher resemble those of 
other species of the same genus. It is a solitary bird, re- 
maining for a long time perched on the limb of a tree, whence 
it occasionally darts after passing insects ; or, flying down- 
wards, it alights on the tufts of herbage which appear above 
the water, affording it a resting-place in the midst of those par- 
tially inundated lands, called savannas, beyond the limits of 
which it is not frequently seen. While on the tuft, this 
bird moves its tail in a manner similar to that of the wagtails. 
Besides insects, the fork-tailed flycatcher feeds occasionally on 
vegetable substances, as, on dissection, the stomach of our spe« 
cimen was found to be filled with pokeberries, (Phytolacca de- 
candra^ L.) 
Beyond these particulars, we have no positive knowledge of 
the manners of our flycatcher, though Vieillot has recorded a 
history of some length, taken from Azara ; but the bird ob- 
served by the latter author, in Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, 
though closely allied, appears to be specifically distinct from 
the one we are describing. Vieillot has since been convinced 
of this difference, and in the (French) New Dictionary of Na- 
tural History^ he has separated the more southern species, 
under the name of Tyrannus violentus. In colour, that bird 
strongly resembles our Muscicapa savanna^ but it is considerably 
smaller, and has different habits, being gregarious ; whilst the 
savanna^ as we have already stated, is a solitary bird. 
Another species, for which ours may be readily mistaken, is 
