. A dictionary of birds . air, it issaid, like a Tumbler Pigeon, as they catch their prey; but con-cerning the mode of life of the majority of the Musckapiclm, andespecially of the numerous African forms, hardly anything is known. FOOLS-COAT, according to Sir Thomas BroMTie {IForTcs, , iv. p. 323), a name of the Goldfinch, referring of courseto its gaudy and particoloured plumage. FORKTAIL, of old time used in England for the Kite, butnow applied in India to the birds of the genus Henicurus,^ a smallgroup, the position of which has long been doubtful, several system-atists referring i
. A dictionary of birds . air, it issaid, like a Tumbler Pigeon, as they catch their prey; but con-cerning the mode of life of the majority of the Musckapiclm, andespecially of the numerous African forms, hardly anything is known. FOOLS-COAT, according to Sir Thomas BroMTie {IForTcs, , iv. p. 323), a name of the Goldfinch, referring of courseto its gaudy and particoloured plumage. FORKTAIL, of old time used in England for the Kite, butnow applied in India to the birds of the genus Henicurus,^ a smallgroup, the position of which has long been doubtful, several system-atists referring it to the Motacillidai (AVagtail), to some membersof which there is undoubtedly a strong outward resemblance, Avhileother methodists, as Blyth {Cat. B. Mils. Asiat. Soc. p. 159), Cabanis{Mus. Ilein. i. p. 11), aiid Sundevall (Tentam. p. 5) placed it next to ^ Another name for it is Originally and even now sometimes written JSnicurus, but incorrectly. FORTY-SPOT—FOSSIL BIRDS 177 Sharpe, as usual in similar cases. HENICUEUS. (After Swainson.) Cinclus (Water-OUSEL), and Drof difficulty, has put it ( Br. Mus. vii. p. 312) amongthe Timeliida}, making twoother genera, Hydrocichla andMicrocicliJa. These are adoptedby Mr. Gates, who [Faun. Birds, ii. p. 81) refers allto the Ruticilline group (Red-start) of Turdklx. With butfeAV exceptions their plumageis wholly black and white;and, save in Microcichla, the forked tail which is constantly inmotion is a marked characteristic. These birds are found alongthe whole of the Himalayan range and its eastward extensions toChina in the north, and further south in the mountains of theMalay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. They form, saysMr. Elwes {Ihis, 1872, p. 251) a conspicuous feature in Himalayanscener}^, being usually found either singly or in pairs flitting fromrock to rock by the side of the most rapid torrents. They aresaid to build a large nest, placed under a stone or fallen tree closeto the water, and thei
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Keywords: ., bookauthorlyde, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds
