_Sylvicola coronata._
_Motacilla coronata_, +Linn.+—Aud. pl. 153.
_Sylvicola coronata_, +Sw.+
[36] Length 5³⁄₄ inches, expanse 9²⁄₁₀, flexure 2⁹⁄₁₀, tail 2¹⁄₄,
rictus ⁶⁄₁₀, (nearly), tarsus ¹⁷⁄₂₀, middle toe ¹¹⁄₂₀.
I have little to say of this changeable species. It occurs but
sparsely with us, coming rather late in the autumn, when the plumage
is undergoing its transformation, so well detailed by Wilson. On only
one occasion have I observed them numerous; towards the latter part
of March, on the estate called Dawkins’ Saltpond, near Spanish town,
many were hopping about the Cashaw trees (_Prosopis juliflora_) that
abound there. All of these that I examined, had the yellow of the crown
obscured, and some almost obliterated. One which I shot in October did
not display it at all, while one in January had the hue very brilliant,
but only at the bases of the coronal feathers; exposed or concealed as
in some of the Tyrants. As far as I have observed, the manners of this
bird are those of a Flycatcher, capturing minute insects on the wing,
and returning to a twig to eat them. The stomach is usually filled with
a black mass of minute flies.