J\I O T A C f L L A. J)1 
black only.—y. Somewhat bigger : the upper parts of a 
very deep and almoft blackilh colour; the throat white; 
anil the tides grey.— Top of the head blackidi; tides and 
back pale brown, with a tinge of green ; above the eye a 
ttreak of white ; under parts grey. Found in Louifiana. 
95. Motacilla melanocephala, the black-headed warb¬ 
ler/ This is a fmall fpecies : upper parts of the plumage 
greenith-ath ; beneath grey; crown black; eyes with a 
red band. Inhabits Sardinia. 
96. Motacilla turdus, the thruih-warblcr. This may 
be compared, for its mellow tones, to the black-cap ; yet 
its fong is better fuftained and more connefted ; and per¬ 
haps would be better delignated by comparing it, though 
on a lmaller fcale with the folitary thruth, Turdus foli- 
tarius. 
Like moft fnging-birds, it is in the coolnefs ofbthe 
morning, and a fhort time before the fetting ot the fun, 
that this bird delights to warble out its fweet loft notes. 
The male only lings: the female has a kind ol cry, tritric - 
trie — tritric-tric, often repeated ; and the male calls in 
the fame accents when feeking his mate. It is only in 
the pairing-feafon that the male warbles his fong, which 
may be called the fong of love, lince he is filent all the reft 
of the year, or at leaft he at other times only utters the 
cry we have fpoken of. In October, November, and De¬ 
cember, the nefts of thefe birds are found, always.?, few 
feet from the ground, in a thick tuft of underwood. The 
laying is four or live eggs, fometimes only three; of a 
very faint green with brown patches., efpecially at the 
great end. As foon as the young are hatched, the male 
aftifts the female in tending them; and he lings only at 
fuch times as, after being fed, they repofe beneath the 
mother’s wings. Their chief food is inlefts, caterpillars, 
and fome kinds of berries. The fpecies of birds in the 
deferts of Africa who live upon infefts is very numerous; 
for the foil, being at no time much cooled, abounds with 
vaft quantities of ir.lcfts all the year ; and nature has there¬ 
fore placed, fays Vaillant, in thofe regions, a proportion 
of animals defined to deftroy them, in order to keep up 
the balance necefl'ary for the continuance of her work. 
And, if fome of thefe fpecies (of birds) peck occalionaily 
at fruit, it is not for the purpofe of eating, but to fqueeze 
out a juice to quench their thrrft. 
In the neft of a thrulh-warbler, Vaillant one day found 
an egg belonging to that fpecies of cuckoo which he calls 
the cri'ard; but whether this bird is in the habit of nurfing 
aftrange progeny could not be known, becaufe the cuc¬ 
koo’s egg, which lay in the neft with two others belonging 
to the owmer of it, was no longer th^re when he vifited 
the place a fecond time, but the female had in the mean 
time laid two other eggs, which Ihe was hatching with 
the two firft. The (hell of the cuckoo’s egg lay on the 
ground, which flowed that it had been thrown out and 
rejected. It is therefore apparent, that all the birds to 
whom the cuckoos confide their eggs do not take equal 
care of them. 
The male of this fpecies is fomething fmaller than our 
nightingale. His colours are not fliowy ; brown-grey on 
the head, neck, mantle, and wings ; ruft-colour on the 
upper tail-coverts and rump ; white, {haded with brown, 
is the prevailing colour on the under parts of the body ; 
a cleaner white covers the throat and front of the neck, 
with fome lines of a blackifn caft. A white line towards 
the forehead f retches like a brow over the eye, and runs 
towards the hind-head. The wings are enlivened by a 
white fefloon which goes round the larger covertures and 
part of the fcapulars; a fimilar edging appears on the tips 
of the lateral tail-quills, which are fliorter than the mid¬ 
quills, and of a greyifh-brown colour, as well as the ou¬ 
ter barbs of the ref, which within are blackifli, as well as 
the inner barbs of the wing-quills. The eyes are very 
large, of a light-brown colour; bill and feet the fame. 
The mouth, tongue, and bale of the low’er mandible, are 
yellow'. The female is fomewhat lmaller; of a fainter 
brown, the white inclining to rufous j but efpecially the 
red on her rump is not fo f rong. Inhabits the pleafant 
ftores of the Gamtoos, and the mimofa-woods on the 
borders of Son dag and Swart-kop rivers. 
97. Motacillahirundinacea,the f.vallow-warbler: black, 
with a glofs of feel-blue; throat, breaf, and vent, crim- 
lon ; belly white, with a longitudinal black band. Inha¬ 
bits New' Holland. 
98. Motacilla acutipenna, the lharp-tailed warbler. 
Vaillant deferibes this as the only bird he met with in 
Africa having a pointed tail, fomewhat refembling that of 
the Hirundo pelafgia, or aculeated fwallow', (fee vol. x. 
p. 201.) yet the points of the feathers are not fo long nor 
lo finely tapered as in that bird. Every tail-feather, ex¬ 
cept the two Ihortef on each fide, end in a bare unbarbed 
point, like fo many needles, fo that the fpecies is eafily 
known at firft fight. Its chirping is very agreeable. Its 
colour is totally different from the reft of the African fig- 
eaters. The upper furface, including head, wings, and 
tail, is entirely of a bright red; the under part, from the 
throat to the belly, is lemon-colour, growing fainter to¬ 
wards the lower-belly, which is white, as well as the under 
tail-coverts. The two primary wing-quiils are brownifh, 
as are the tips of the feven or eight following. The bill is 
black ; the legs and feet light-brown, the eyes brown red. 
See the preceding Plate, fig. a. The female is yellow 
only on the throat; the under part of the body w'hite 
clouded with rufous on the flanks; the upper furface is 
precifely as in the male. Vaillant’s figure of the female is 
faulty in the colouring. This fpecies inhabits the mi- 
mofa-trees on the fhores of the Great River, about a little 
ifland which Vaillant calls Hippopotamus Ifland ; and 
feeds on infects. 
99. Motacilla Amboynenfis, the red warbler. This is 
one of the few birds deferibed by Vaillant not from the 
living animal, but from preferved fpecimens. The male 
and female were given him by a gentleman, who informed 
him that their native place was Amboyna. The male is 
a beautiful bird, about the iize of our blue titmoufe, 
Parus cceruleus. All the upper furface, from the forehead 
to the tail-coverts, is of the pureft vermilion, except that 
oi'. the head and neck fome of the feathers are tipped 
with black; the throat, front of the neck, andbreaft, are 
of a fainter red, llightly fhaded with yeilow ; the flanks, 
belly, plumage on the thighs, and under tail-coverts, are 
flate-coiour. The wings and tail are abfolutely black ; 
the tail is Ihort; the wings reach almoft to the end of it. 
Bill, legs, and feet, horn-colour. Total length three 
inches three lines. See the Plate, fig. 3. The female is 
not fo ftout; thofe parts which in the male are red, are in 
her of a light brown or fawn-colour; wings and tail dark 
brown inclining to black ; the reft as in the male. 
100. Motacilla mofehita, the muik warbler: general 
plumage lead-colour; cap pale rufous. Inhabits Sardi¬ 
nia; frequently hatches the cuckoo’s egg, which is laid 
in its neft. 
101. Motacilla Pennfylvanica, the Pennfylvanian war¬ 
bler: length five inches; bill black; upper parts of the 
body olive green, fpotted with black ; crown of the head 
yellow; hind part of the head black; beneath the eyes 
a broad band of the fame; iides of the head, and under 
parts of the body, white; top of the breaft and fides deep 
red; wing-coverts dulky, crofted with two wlytilh bars; 
quills and tail dulky; the outer feathers fpotted within 
with white ; legs black. The female wants the black at 
the hind head; the back not fpotted; and the lides 
fcarcely marked with red. Thefe are feen in Pennfyl- 
vania in fpring, on their pallage northward, where they 
go to breed, and pals the fummer. Their food confilts 
of infefts. 
102. Motacilla ruficapilla, the rufous-headed warbler: 
length upwards of four inches: bill brown; crown of 
the head rufous; upper parts of the neck and body olive 
green ; throat, fore part of the neck, and breaft, yellow, 
marked with longitudinal rufous fpots; belly and vent 
pale yellow j wing-coverts and quills brown, edged with 
olive 
