This exquisitely beautiful and graceful bird is quite abundant on the prairies of Southern Texas, and is everywhere conspicuous among its kindred
species. It is usually known as the Scissor-tail from the habit of closing and opening the long feathers of the tail like the blades of a pair of scissors. The adult female is very similar, though rather smaller. The young is not conspicuously different, only lacking the concealed patch of the head.
Habits. The Swallow-tailed Flycatcher appears to be a common species from Central Texas to the Rio Grande, and thence throughout Mexico to Central America, as far south at least as Guatemala. It is also found in the Indian Territory, where it breeds, specimens of the nest and eggs having been obtained at the Kioway Agency by Dr. E. Palmer.
It was found very plentiful at Langui, in Honduras, by Mr. G. C. Taylor, and also in fewer numbers in other localities. In the evening, just before roosting time, they were in the habit of assembling on the tops of certain favorite trees, where they remained until nearly dark. They then all went off to the woods. He generally met with them on open ground, not much encumbered by trees or brushwood.
Mr. Dresser states that he found this very graceful bird quite abundant at Matamoras and in Western Texas, where it is known by the name of “Texan Bird of Paradise.” He found it as far east as the river Guadaloupe. It arrives, he states, in the neighborhood of San Antonio, late in March, and remains until the middle or latter end of October. It breeds abundantly near San Antonio, building its nest in a mesquite or other tree, and lays from three to four eggs, which, as he states, are pure white, blotched with large spots of a dark red color.
He adds that these birds are of a quarrelsome and fearless disposition, rarely brooking intruders near their homes. During the breeding-season Mr. Dresser has often, when travelling, stopped to admire four or five of them fighting on the wing. They show their long tail-feathers and the rich scarlet color under their wings to the fullest advantage. After passing Guadaloupe River, he saw none of these birds to the eastward, though he was told they have occasionally been seen on Galveston Island.
This Flycatcher was met with at Eagle Pass, in Lower Texas, and in Tamaulipas by Mr. Clark and Lieutenant Couch, in the Mexican Boundary Survey. None were found occurring west of the valley of the Rio Pecos. Mr. Clark states that he always saw them either following one another through the air, or perched upon some solitary twig. In their gyrations the scissors were always more or less expanded, suggesting the idea of balancers. Their nests were built of sticks, lined on the inside, though not very softly, with grass, and were placed almost invariably on dry limbs of the mesquite. They contained from three to five eggs, and, what was quite remarkable, more than one pair always seemed to have an interest in the same nest, over which they were all very watchful, and gave proofs of their courage by darting at the intruders. He describes their notes as short and sharp, without much variation, and they can be heard at quite a distance. The Mexicans imagine that this Flycatcher lives on the brains of other birds.
Lieutenant Couch describes the Scissor-tail as shy, but of a very lively disposition. Usually four or more are seen in company, and seem to prefer the thinly wooded prairies to close thickets. In beauty, Lieutenant Couch considers it the queen of all the birds found in Northern Tamaulipas. This superiority is not owing so much to the brilliancy of its plumage, for in that it is excelled by several species, but to the inimitable grace and charm of its flight. Rising from the topmost branch of some acacia, it seems to float, rather than to fly; then descending perpendicularly, it retakes its position, uttering its usual note. He did not see it west of the Cadereita. Dr. Kennerly, in his march from the Gulf of Mexico into Western Texas, frequently met with these Flycatchers along his route. He usually saw them in the open prairie, or among the mesquite-bushes. When perched, they were generally on the top of a bush or a tall weed, and their tails were constantly in motion. When they darted off after some passing insect, they usually circled around, displaying the singular bifurcation of their tail, but seldom alighting again on the same bush. It was occasionally seen on the open prairie, flying for a long distance near the earth, as if in search of insects.
In Vera Cruz this species is an inhabitant of the hot lands. A few individuals ascend, though very rarely, to the height of the city of Orizaba, or about 3,700 feet.
Mr. Nuttall states that he met with this Flycatcher rather common along the banks of the Red River, near the confluence of the Kiamesha. He again met them, even more frequently, near the Great Salt River of Arkansas, in August. They seemed to be preying upon grasshoppers.