Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE SONG BIRDS
THE FLYCATCHERS
Paradise Flycatchers
Among the handsomest, and it may be added the most typical, members of the group are the Paradise Flycatchers (Terpsiphone), the twenty-five species of which are widely spread over Africa and southern Asia. They have an extremely large, depressed, and swollen bill, and numerous long, coarse, rictal bristles, while the two central tail-feathers in the mature male are enormously lengthened, indeed far exceeding the length of the body, and the head is provided with a crest. During the first two years the sexes in the Indian species are practically similar, the prevailing color being chestnut, and this the female never drops; but after the autumn moult of the third year the male assumes the long median tail-feathers and white under parts, though still retaining the chestnut upper parts. The full plumage is attained in the fourth year, when the entire body plumage is pure white, and this is retained through life; it is common, however, for them to mate while both are in the chestnut plumage. One of the best-known species is the Indian Paradise Flycatcher (T. paradisi), which ranges from Turkestan through the Himalayas and India to Ceylon, being resident where found, though it may move down to the plains from the higher mountains in winter. It is of solitary habits, frequenting forests and well-wooded districts, being especially fond of bamboo jungle. Mr. Dresser states that it is”restless and continually on the move from tree to tree. Its flight is undulating and it has a curious appearance on the wing, its long tail moving in jerks. Its note is a harsh, grating cry. It feeds on small flies and Cicadellce, which it generally captures on the wing, though it sometimes picks them off a leaf or bough. It breeds both on the plains and in the hills to an altitude of about 5500 feet, placing its nest in a tree, usually at some height above the ground. The nest is cup-shaped, rather shallow, constructed of moss, rootlets, vegetable fibers, and fine grass, interwoven with cobwebs, lined with finer grass and sometimes horse-hairs.”The four or five eggs are pinkish white closely spotted with brownish red. Our illustration shows the related Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher (T. mutata).
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