272 M U S 
ones, fo that it is much forked. The female is rather 
fmaller than the male, and her creft about half the height; 
in other refpe< 5 ts there is no difference. The young bird 
is of a brown black on the wings and tail; the reft of the 
plumage black mixed with grey, but under the tail with 
•white ; the creft is then but eight or ten lines high in the 
male, but in the female not yet vifible. Its habits and 
netting are not abfolutely known, but are fuppofed to be 
the fame with thofe of the following, which Vaillant had 
the good fortune to meet with in the feafon of incubation. 
113. Mufcicapa drongo minor, the Small drongo. This 
fpecies is fmaller than the preceding, and has no tuft; the 
tail is lefs forked, the lateral quills being but eight or ten 
lines longer than the intermediate ones. In manners it 
refembles the former. It is met with along the eaftern 
coaft of Africa, from the fmiling banks of the river 
Dwywen-hock to the bay of Formofa or Blettenberg ; it 
occurs again by the Small and Great Fifli Rivers at the 
entrance of Cnft'raria, and in the mimofa-woods of the 
Gamtoos, the Swarte-kop, and the Sondag; but not in 
the interior, nor on the weft coaft. 
This bird is of a black colour, brownifh at the ends of 
the great wing-quills, and bluifh on the parts directly ex- 
pofed to the light; the eye dull brown. The female is 
rather lefs than the male. The young bird has fome 
•white on the lower belly, and on the under tail-coverts ; 
and the plumage in general is glofl'ed over with brownifh 
grey. In the love-feafon, the male has a long morning 
and evening fomewhat like our blackbird. The neft is 
fabricated in the forked extremities of the lateral branches 
of the higheft mimofa-trees ; it confifts of flexible twigs 
interwoven fo loofely anddiftantly, that from the bottom 
©f the tree you may fee and count the eggs within, for 
there is no downy matter whatever to fill up the interftices. 
The eggs are generally four in number, white with black 
fpots. The male fliares with the female the cares of in¬ 
cubation. 
114. Mufcicapa drongo major, the whifkered drongo. 
This is larger than the two preceding, being about the 
3 ize of the common thruih. The fpecific character is, a 
bunch of ftiff hairs riling ere< 5 ! from each noftril, and joined 
by fimilar hairs from each fide the lower mandible bend¬ 
ing forward, and forming very evident whifkers. This 
bird is more fquat than the other drongos j its tail is not 
j’o deeply forked as that of the drongo, but more fo than 
that of the fmall drongo. The wings and tail are brownifn 
dirty black; the reft of the plumage black with a greenifh 
glofs ; the bill and feet black; the eye bright maroon- 
colour. The female is about one-fourth lefs than the 
male ; her plumage differs only in fome white fpots on 
the lower belLy and under tail-coverts; her whifkers alfo 
are much lefs. Vaillant met with this fpecies but once 
in a foreft in Caffraria near an encampment which he called 
the Field of Death. He and his man fhot five at that 
time, two males and three females; in their ftomachs he 
found the remains only of bees and caterpillars. Their 
cry is ghi-err-gret. , which thole tffiatefcaped uttered all at 
once when the gun went off. 
115. Mufcicapa drongo grifea, the grey drongo. This 
fpecies inhabits Ceylon, whence Vaillant received thirteen 
of them, all dried, but not difbowelled ; he found the in¬ 
ternal parts, therefore, very perfeft, and could eafily dif- 
tinguifh the males from the females. The ltomach con¬ 
tained nothing but the remains of bees and other infefts. 
This bird greatly refembles the fmall drongo ; the tail is 
rather more forked, as in the drongo. The bill, feet, and 
legs, are lead-colour; the plumage in general of a ftiining 
lilver grey ; the colour of the eyes could not be difco- 
vered, The females were rather lefs than the males. 
116. Mufcicapa atbiventris, the white-bellied grey 
drongo. This fo much refembles the laft, that it might 
be taken for a variety. The top of the head, neck, back, 
in fhort all the upper lurface, are of the fame fil very grey ; 
but the whole of the under furface, i. e. the throat, breaft, 
belly, thighs, and under, tail-coverts, beautiful white j the 
M tr s 
bill, feet, and nails, lead-colour. Many young birds have 
the under parts of the plumage entirely white; it there¬ 
fore remains a doubt whether this may not be a young 
bird of the preceding fpecies. Vaillant, who examined 
two lent from Batavia, did not however fee any reafon to 
fuppole them to have attained their firft plumage only ; 
they had every appearance of being full-grown birds. 
They might indeed be females of the preceding, as they 
differ from the male in colour till they are more than two 
years old. 
xi7. Mufcicapa longicauda, the long-tailed drongo. 
This fpecies is longer and thinner than the reft of the 
drongos; the bill is very long, and weaker alfo in propor¬ 
tion ; and the tail is longer than the whole body from the 
point of the bill to the vent; it is confiderably tapered, 
the lateral quills being at leaft two inches and a quarter 
longer than the intermediate ones, forming a deeper fork 
than any of the fpecies we have called drongos. The plu¬ 
mage in general is black, with a bright blue glofs; bill, 
feet, and nails, lead-colour. 
118. Mufcicapa Malabarica, the racket drongo. This 
is a very large fpecies. It has been very erroneoufly de- 
fcribed by Sonnerat. The outer lateral tail-feathers ex¬ 
tend in naked filaments for fix or feven inches beyond the 
intermediate feather, but are furniihed with barbs at their 
tips, which ip read out broad like a racket or battledore; 
yet thefe barbs are confined to the outer fide of the item, 
the inner part being naked. This bird is entirely of a 
glofiy black, with refleftions of green in certain lights. 
Inhabits Batavia and Malabar. Some lpecimens which 
wanted the two long feathers werefaid to be females ; they 
differed in no other refpeft. Sonnerat tells us nothing of 
the habits of this fpecies ; he defcribes the tail as fquare, 
inltead of naked ; the eyes, he fays, are red. In another 
place, Vaillant affirms this to be the fame with the Cuculu,s 
paradifea of Linnaeus, for which fee vol. v. p. 440. 
119. Mufcicapa asrea, the bronzed drongo. This fpe¬ 
cies, whofe plumage, though entirely black, is of a bril¬ 
liant kind. Inhabits Bengal. It is precifely of the fliape 
and fize of the fmall drongo, and might be taken fora va¬ 
riety. All the upper furface, then, is of a glofly black, 
melting into blue or bronzed green, which gives it a won¬ 
derful brilliancy when expofed to the rays of light. Tlffi 
under furface is dark grey without any glofs ; the under 
parts of the wing and tail-quills is absolutely black ; fo are 
the bill and feet. Vaillant's African Birds, vol. iii, iv. 
Birds of America and India, vol. i. Linn. Tranf. vol. iv. 
Turton's Linn. Nat. Hiji. by the Editor, vol. vin viii. 
MUSCIP'ULA, f. in botany. See Dionvea and Silene. 
MUS'CKA, a town of Lufatia, on the river Neifle : the 
chief place of a lordftnp, about thirty miles in circum¬ 
ference : twenty-four miies weft of Sagan, and fifty-two 
north-eaft of Drefden. Lat. 51. 31. N. Ion. 14.46. E. 
MUS'CLE, f. [muycula, Sax.] In anatomy and phy-, 
fiology, is that foft and fibrous ftrudture, generally of a 
red colour, known in common language by the name of 
flelh, and pofleffing the property of contra&ion, by which 
it becomes the inftrument of almoft all the motions in 
the living body. It confifts of threads or fibres joined to¬ 
gether by cellular fubftance: thefe are rendered very con- 
fpicuous in meat which has been boiled for a long time. 
They are arranged in different forms according to the pur- 
pofes to which they are fubfervient. Connected together 
in large mafles, and united to tendons, which are fixed to 
the bones, they conftitute the voluntary mufcles. Thefe 
compofe nearly the whole bulk of the foft parts of the 
limbs, and a very confiderable proportion of the trunk, 
and execute all the motions which take place in obedience 
to, the commands of the will. They fix the body, and de¬ 
termine the attitudes of its various parts in Handing, fit¬ 
ting, and lying; they move it forwards in walking, run¬ 
ning, jumping, dancing, fwimming, climbing, See. and 
are the foie agents in feizing, holding, tlirufting, throw¬ 
ing, &c. By alternately enlarging and contra&ing the 
clieft; jJieix affiance is effential in refpiration; and thefe 
motions* 
