2f>0 M U S C 
The paradife fly-catcher, at its full fize, prefents the 
figure nearly of our fparrow, (Fringilla domeftica ;) but 
it is fomewhat longer, and therefore of a more (lender ap¬ 
pearance. The head is ornamented with a tuft, or creft, 
confifling of long ftift' feathers, reaching more than half 
an inch farther back than the occiput, but not falling 
down on the neck, as incorrectly reprefented in Buiron’s 
plates. The creft, the front feathers which come down 
over the noffrils, and the neck, are dark green, which re- 
fled tints of black or of fteel-blue, according as the rays 
of light ftrike upon them. The breaft is white mingled 
■with grey, but whiter on the under parts, and quite white 
on the flanks, belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts. The 
back, rump, wings, and tail, are bright red, except fome 
black about the outer edges of the wing-quills. The tail 
is much tapered, and the two middle feathers are fome- 
times four or five times as long as the body, even to the 
length of two-and-twenty inches; but in cabinets we find 
them of various lengths, from the circumftance of the 
birds feldom being killed at the time of their feathers at¬ 
taining, their full length, which is only at a particular fea- 
fon. The bill is ftrorigly befet with briftly hairs, and is 
at its bale of a lead-colour ; feet the fame. 
The female is fomewhat fmaller ; has no long feathers 
in the tail; red colour not fo bright; creft Imaller and 
flatter, but very vifible. Whether the male has the long 
feathers in the tail only in the pairing-feafon is not cer¬ 
tain, but it is moft probable. Certain it is, however, that 
he changes his colour; for Vaillant gives us the figure of 
one entirely white, which he affirms to be a male of this 
fpecies ; and he propoles the following queftions for the 
confideration of naturalifts who may have opportunities 
of obferving the fpecies in their native haunts : Does this 
bird affume a white garb every year at a certain feafon ; or 
only once for all at a certain age ? Does it change from 
white to red, or from red to white ? 
Buftbn had already obferved this change; and he cor- 
re£ts Briffon for giving the white bird under another 
name, no doubt confidering it as a diftin£l fpecies, though 
he does not fay fo. But Buftbn, while he detedls this er¬ 
ror, direbtly falls into another, giving the white bird as 
the female, and the red one as the male of the fame fpecies; 
for Vaillant had feen white males as well as red ones, all 
with long tails ; and females refembling both thefe exactly, 
except that they wanted the two long tail-feathers. Of 
this lie was fully convinced by the diffe&ion of nine of 
thefe birds fent him from Columbo in a perfect Hate by 
an officer who had ferved five-and-twenty years at Ceylon ; 
and he oblerved alfo that they had not the thick flefliy 
eyelid of the preceding fpecies. This bird, in its white 
garb, does not change the colour of the head, creft, and 
neck; but all the under furface of the body, from the 
bottom of the neck to the under tail-coverts, as well as 
the back, rump, and under coverts of the tail, are as white 
as fnow ; the fcapulars are white alfo, but the fides of the 
quills are black; the fmaller and greater wing-coverts are 
partly black and partly white, as well as the quills of the 
wings, producing an agreeable mixture of thole two co¬ 
lours in longitudinal ftripes. The two long middle-fea¬ 
thers of the tail are entirely white, except that the ribs of 
the quills are black ; and frequently they have a black 
fpot at the end. The lateral tail-quills are moftly white ; 
like the middle ones, their ribs are black, and they have 
a black line on their outer barbs, which line becomes 
broader as the feathers approach the centre. Bill and 
legs bluilh, as before. The female has lefs black, the 
ftripes being lefs vifible ; her creft alfo is fmaller. Buftbn 
deferibes the white bird as being larger than the red one, 
a variation which Vaillant could not dilcern ; but in ca¬ 
binets much difference may be obferved in their fize, as 
well as in that of all birds, from the llretcbing more or 
lefs oi their Ikins in Huffing them. Some difference will 
appear in their colours if they are killed when their moult 
or change is not complete ; then their appearance partakes 
more or lefs of red or white. The female deferibed by 
1 C A P A. 
Vaillant was a!mod: entirely white ; yet not without a 
tinge of red, more evident on the tail and wings. On the 
contrary, the male was almoft entirely red, but the two 
long tail-feathers were equally divided between red and 
pure white. Vaillant faw many of the fpecies thus diitin- 
guilhed. But the changeablenefs of the colours has caufed 
much confufion in the deferiptions of this bird, upon 
which Vaillant infills at great length. He fays that it is 
well deferibed by Seba, tom. i. p. 4.8. N° 5. except that 
the creft is too large ; and that Edwards has given the 
white variety in his N° 113. and the red one in his Glean¬ 
ings, N° 325. though he places it among the birds of pa- 
radife, on account of the two long feathers in the tail. 
This very-beautiful fpecies is found in India, at Senegal, 
and the Cape of Good Hope; alfo at Madagafcar. It fre¬ 
quents the borders of the Gambia and Niger, and lives on 
flies like the reft of the genus. In India it is called Jhaw- 
bnl, which means the king of the finging-birds ; as it is 
faid to have a moft delightful note. 
Of this fpecies there are three other varieties, viz. 
( 3 . The chefnut paradife fly-catcher.- feathers on the 
head, and hind-part of the neck, greenilb black, forming 
a long creft ; upper parts of the body pale chefnut; fore¬ 
part of the neck and breaft grey; front thence to the vent 
white ; quills and tail pale chefnut; legs lead-colour. 
y. The blue-brealled paradife fly-catcher : all the un¬ 
der parts nearly white ; breaft pale blue. 
The gold-wing paradife fly-catcher: bill reddilh, be¬ 
fet with briftles at the bale; irides fire-colour; head and 
throat glofly greenilh. black ; head crefted ; all the upper 
parts of the body pale chefnut; the under white; the 
wing-coverts of an elegant gold colour ; quills and tail 
pale chefnut; tail like the former. Found at Brafil. 
2. Mufcicapa mutata, the mutable fly-catcher: crefted ; 
tail wedged, two mid-feathers very long 5 eyebrows blue. 
Size of a fparrow ; length eleven inches and a half, of 
which the tail meafures near eight inches. The bill is 
flatted at the bafe, three quarters of an inch long, and 
black, befet with briftles; irides yellow. The creft, neck, 
and back, are of a greenilh black, the back mixed with 
white ; the breaft and under parts are alfo white ; wings 
black ; the middle part of them all the way lengthwife 
white ; the two middle tail-feathers are four inches and 
a quarter longer than the others, and white their whole 
length, except at the tip, where there is a fpot of black ; 
the lhaft is alfo black ; the others are white within, and 
black outwards, and when clofed appear wholly black; 
legs black. Found in Madagafcar, where it is faid to be 
called Jchet. Vaillant calls it Jchet roux; he met with it on 
the coaft of Natal, near Caffraria; alfo in the Hies of Bour¬ 
bon and Madagafcar ; it is probable they inhabit the whole 
eaftern part of the continent of Africa inclining towards 
the line, but not nearer to the Cape than lat. 28. or 30. 
The cinnamon fly-catcher: length eight inches and 
a half: bill black; irides yellow; eyelids blue; head 
crefted, black ; the reft of the body, and fail, bright cin¬ 
namon colour : round the knees mixed with white. In¬ 
habits Madagafcar. 
y. Green and chefnut fly-catcher : the head of a very 
dark green, and gloffy ; the top crefted ; irides yellow ; 
eyelids blue ; the reft of the body of a fine chefnut; wings 
black, with the fame long patch of white down the mid¬ 
dle as in the others ; the two middle long feathers are 
white, bordered with black for half the length ; the lhaft 
is alfo black ; the four next on each fide chefnut; and the 
outer feather black, except on the inner web, which is 
white for nearly the whole length. This alfo inhabits 
Madagafcar, where it is called Jchet voulouiou; and is 
made by Vaillant a diftimSt fpecies, under the name of 
fchet noir. 
3. Mufcicapa nubila, the clouded fly-catcher. Vaillant 
deferibes this as a new African fpecies; he calls it nelndeux, 
clouded, though the general plumage is as white as fnow, 
except the wings and tail, which are quite black ; fo that 
perhaps a more appropriate name might have been feledted. 
16 
