The ROYAL TYRANT (_Megalophus regius_), so called from the tiara-like
crescent that adorns its head, and its great beauty of plumage, has
a slenderly-formed body and pointed wings, in which the third and
fourth quills exceed the rest in length, the first and second being
comparatively short; the tail is moderately long, and quite straight at
its extremity; the beak, which is flat and spoon-shaped, terminates in
a sharp hook; the feet are short; the toes, of which the two exterior
are united at the base, are powerful, and armed with short blunt claws.
The plumage is soft and downy, and upon the top of the head is prolonged
into a broad flowing crest; at the base of the beak it is replaced by
bristles; five very long bristles also decorate the cheek-stripes. The
upper part of the body is of a beautiful light brown, while the entire
under surface and tail are bright reddish yellow; the throat is whitish;
the quills are deep brown or blackish, with a light edge upon the inner
web; the wing-covers are tipped with pale yellow; the tiara is of a
gorgeous flame-colour, or carmine-red, each feather having a black spot
at its tip, surrounded in the male by a light yellow line. These spots
gleam with a blue metallic lustre, and the crest extends as far as
the nape; the eye is light brown, the upper mandible brown, the lower
one light yellow; the feet are pale flesh-pink, and the long bristles
black. In the young the plumage is almost entirely brown, mottled upon
the breast, and spotted on the back; the crest is very small, and of
an orange-yellow. The length of this species is six inches; the wing
measures three and a half, and the tail two and a half inches.
The Royal Tyrant inhabits the primitive forests of Brazil and Guiana,
where it frequents the most shady recesses, and leads a quiet and
solitary life, usually preferring the tops of the trees. Notwithstanding
the preference it shows for retired spots, it is frequently caught by the
natives, on account of its great beauty. We learn from Burmeister that
the capture of the male is rendered comparatively easy, by the fact that
a brooding female has no sooner lost her mate than she consoles herself
with another. The natives, who are aware of this peculiarity, when they
find a pair shoot the male, and then wait patiently until his successor
makes his appearance, when he is also killed. We have it on good
authority that a female Royal Tyrant will in this manner take to herself
as many as a dozen of these ill-fated partners. The eggs are oval, and
have light violet shells, marked with brownish or blood-red spots, and
streaked with the same shade at the narrow end. We have no account of the
nest built by this species.
* * * * *
The STILTED FLY-CATCHERS (_Fluvicolæ_) constitute a group of South
American birds differing in many particulars from the Tyrant Shrikes.
The members of this group are recognisable by their large, powerful
bodies, and their long wings and tail, in the former of which the first
quill is only a trifle shorter than the second. They have strong legs,
high tarsi, and thick, sharp claws. Their large, high, and slender beak
is of a conical form, and but very slightly bent at its extremity. Their
thick plumage is heavy, and is composed of small feathers, presenting but
a very slight development of down. The base of the beak is covered with
stiff bristles, of which from three to five of still stiffer and larger
size are scattered over the region of the cheek-stripes.
The Stilted Fly-catchers are frequently met with in the immediate
neighbourhood of human habitations, and in such open plains as are almost
entirely destitute of trees or bushes, near ponds, rivers, or even in
marshy districts, everywhere subsisting upon insects, and carrying on
the pursuit of their prey exactly in the same manner as the birds above
described.