The shaft of the second, which is likewise
long, is fringed with long hair-like filaments; and the third, which is
also long and curved, is plumed on the inner side only, except at the
extremity, where there are a few separated filaments of a dark grey
colour.
The female _Maenura superba_ differs very little from the male,
except in the tail, which is composed of twelve feathers a little curved
and plumed, having the upper side dark rufous and grey, and the under of
a pearly colour.
The following curious particulars of these birds were observed by persons
resident in the country, and who were eye-witnesses of what is here told.
They frequent retired and inaccessible parts of the interior; have been
seen to run remarkably fast, but their tails are so cumbrous that they
cannot fly in a direct line. They sing for two hours in the morning,
beginning from the time when they quit the valley, until they attain the
summit of the hill; where they scrape together a small hillock, on which
they stand, with their tall spread over them, imitating successively the
note of every bird known in the country.
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