84 
MUSCICAFA SAVANA. 
tip, so as to terminate in a slender process. The tail 
is very profoundly forked, the two exterior feathers 
measuring 1 nearly ten inches in perfect individuals, whilst 
the two succeeding are hut five inches long, and the 
other feathers become gradually and proportionally 
shorter, until those in the middle are scarcely two 
inches in length ; the tail is, in fact, so deeply divided, 
that if the two exterior feathers were removed, it 
would still exhibit a very forked appearance. All the 
tail feathers are black, the exterior one each side being 
white on the remarkably narrow outer web, and on the 
shaft beneath, for nearly three-fourths of its length. 
I cannot agree with those who say, that the female 
is distinguished from the other sex by wanting the 
orange spot on the head, as I think we may safely 
conclude, from analogy, that there is hardly any difference 
between the sexes. The young birds are readily recog- 
nized, by being destitute of that spot, as well as by 
having the head cinereous, instead of black ; the colour 
of the whole upper part of the body is also darker, 
the tail considerably shorter, and the exterior feathers 
not so much elongated as those of the adult. It is 
proper to remark, that the elongated tail-feathers of 
the full grown bird are sometimes very much worn, 
in consequence of the rapidity with which it passes 
through the bushes. 
Two coloured figures have been given of the fork- 
tailed flycatcher, the one by BufFon, which is extremely 
bad, although the rectilinear form of the tail is correctly 
represented ; the other, by Vieillot, which has the 
exterior tail-feathers unnaturally curved, and, notwith- 
standing it is preferable to Buflon’s figure, yet it is far 
from being accurate. This author having been unable 
to procure a North American specimen, chose never- 
theless to introduce the species in his Natural History 
of North American Birds, on the authority of former 
authors, giving a figure from a South American specimen. 
The error in representing the exterior tail-feathers 
curved, doubtless arose from the manner in which the 
dried skin was packed for transportation. BufloiTs 
