The RED BIRD, or GREAT PERICROCOTUS (_Pericrocotus speciosus_), the
species we have selected as the representative of its family, is a
magnificent creature, about nine inches long, and twelve inches and a
half broad. The wings, in which the fourth and fifth quills are longer
than the rest, measure four and a quarter and the tail four inches. The
beak is short, broad at its base, and slightly curved. The tarsi are
short, the feet delicate, and the claws much hooked. The plumage of the
male is of a brilliant blueish black upon the back, quills, and centre
tail-feathers; whilst the entire under side, a broad band across the
wings (formed by a line of spots upon the outer quills), and the exterior
tail-feathers are glowing scarlet. In the female, the brow, back, and
upper tail-covers are greenish yellow; the quills dusky black, spotted
with yellow; the centre tail-feathers tipped with deep yellow; the rest
of the plumage is bright yellow, decorated with various dark markings. In
both sexes the eye is brown, and the beak and feet black.
These very beautiful birds are met with extensively throughout the
greater part of India, particularly in Calcutta, Assam, and Burmah; they
are most numerous in such localities as are 3,000 or 4,000 feet above the
level of the sea. Like most of their congeners, they are generally active
and social, usually gleaning their insect food from amongst the buds
and blossoms of their favourite trees, and only occasionally descending
to the ground or seeking their prey upon the wing. Jerdon tells us that
whilst the business of the day is going on the males and females separate
from each other, each sex associating in small parties of four or five
birds, and carrying on their work in the most lively manner, hopping
and climbing briskly about among the foliage, and constantly uttering
their cheerful and penetrating note. The nest of the Red Bird found by
the writer to whom we have alluded, was constructed of moss and delicate
fibres, and contained three white eggs, slightly spotted with brownish
red. Radde mentions a grey species, inhabiting China, the Philippine
Islands, and Eastern Siberia, and tells us that the flocks which he saw,
each numbering some fifteen or twenty birds, tumbled noisily about near
the tops of the trees, and filled the otherwise silent forests with
their shrill chattering cry. On the first approach of danger, these
lively parties at once united into large flocks, and sought refuge in the
highest trees, preserving meanwhile such unbroken silence as to render
their capture a work of great difficulty.
* * * * *
The FLY-SNAPPERS (_Myiagræ_), another family of these birds, inhabit the
eastern hemisphere, and are recognisable by the slender formation of
their body, moderate-sized wings, in which the fourth and fifth quills
exceed the rest in length, and long tail; in the males of some species
the web of the centre tail-feathers is much developed; the beak is broad
and compressed, broad at its base, straight at the culmen, incised at its
margins, and hooked at its extremity. The feet are short and weak; the
plumage bright-coloured, and rich in texture. The base of the beak is
surrounded with bristles. All the members of this family are unusually
brisk and restless in their habits, and enliven their native forests by
their gay plumage and cheerful notes.
[Illustration: THE PARADISE FLY-CATCHERS (_Terpsiphone paradisea_).]
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The PARADISE FLY-CATCHERS, separated as a distinct group under the name
of the _Terpsiphone_, comprise the most beautiful and striking species of
the family, and are distinguished by the formation of their tail, which
is very long and conical, the centre feathers in the male being double
the length of those at the exterior.