GENERIC CHARACTER.
_Rostrum curvatum, rar r.e.c.t.u.m, lateribus compressis; apice vix emarginato. Nares basales. Alae brevissimae, rotundatae, remigum majorum 3 exteriorum longitudine quartae longitudinem superante, caeteris paribus et vix remigibus minoribus longioribus. Rectrices breves, fasciculatae, erectae. Hallux digito medio brevior. Plumae fuscae._
Bill curved; rarely straight, the sides compressed, the tip slightly notched. Nostrils basal. Wings remarkably short, rounded, the three exterior greater quills shorter than the fourth; the remainder of equal length, and hardly longer than the lesser quills. Tail-feathers weak, short, fasciculated, and generally carried erect. Hind toe shorter than the middle toe. Plumage brown.
Generic Types _Motacillae troglodytes et furva._ Gm. _Certhiae familiaris, pal.u.s.tris, et Caroliniana._ Wilson, _Am. Orn._
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
_T. fuscus, jugulo pectoreque pallidioribus; mento nigricante; corpore medio niveo; rectricibus angustis, nigris; mandibulae superiore apice adunco._
Brown; throat and breast paler; chin blackish, middle of the body snowy, feathers of the tail black and narrow; tip of the upper mandible hooked.
This singular little bird agrees more in its general character with _Troglodytes_, than with any other established genus; yet with this its similitude is but slight. Anxious, nevertheless, to avoid what might hereafter prove an unnecessary innovation, I have placed it with the Wrens, under the distinguishing name of _rectirostris_; although I am more inclined to think it const.i.tutes a distinct genus.
_Troglodytis_, originally inst.i.tuted as a genus by our ill.u.s.trious countryman Ray, has been adopted both by M.M. Cuvier and Vieillot.
Professor Temminck, on the contrary, has included it with _Sylvia_; an immense genus, already burthened with more species than are rightly understood, or that really belong to it.
Figure the natural size. Bill straight, triangular at the base, the sides compressed, tip of the upper mandible bent down and notched; nostrils large, lengthened, covered by a membrane, which (except at the base,) is naked; the aperture terminal, near the edge of the bill, narrow, and oblong: the feathers on the rump and flanks remarkably long; the three fore toes slender, and all connected at their base as far as the first joint: tail even, and longer than the generality of Wrens, the feathers very narrow, weak, and deep black. Plumage above light or reddish brown; sides of the head, neck, breast, and body, the same, but tinged with fulvous; the chin and upper part of the throat blackish, but the margin of the feathers partly white: lower part of the throat and breast dusky: middle of the body pure white; under wing covers, inside margin of the quills, and edge of the shoulders, white.
Mr. Leadbeater favoured me with this bird, which he received from Brazil.
The comparative length of the bill in this genus, (leaving the present bird out of consideration,) offers no generic distinction, because it varies greatly in different species. Some of those found in Brazil have the bill nearly double the length of the common European Wren.
Pl. 141
[Ill.u.s.tration]
PSITTACUS chryseurus,
_Golden-tailed Parrot._
GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 1.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
_P. nitide viridis; fronte genisque fulvo colore tinctis; rectricium brevium, parium, pennis mediis viridibus, caeteris aureis, omnium apicibus nigris._
Shining green; front and sides of the head tinged with fulvous; tail short, even, tipt with black, the two middle feathers green, the rest golden.
I was fortunate in procuring both s.e.xes of this very rare bird in the vicinity of Pernambuco, being the only individuals I ever met with in Brazil: they appeared as if tired from a long flight, which led me to suppose they had migrated from the interior towards the coast. I do not find the species noticed by any writer, nor have I seen it in any collection.
The total length is six inches and a half; the plumage generally of a rich emerald green, rather obscure on the top and sides of the head, but very bright on the back and rump, where it is tinged with blue; the feathers round the base of the bill, front, and sides of the head, are tinged with buff colour; the scapulary feathers (protecting the base of the wings and lesser quills) are chocolate brown, the quills themselves black, margined externally with green and internally with olive. The most beautiful part of the bird is the tail, which is short and even, each feather having the tips margined by a narrow line of black, the middle pair being green, and all the rest of a rich golden yellow colour; the under plumage and wing covers are nearly of as deep a green as the wings, but on the flanks there is a tinge of olive.
Pl. 142
[Ill.u.s.tration]
NECTARINIA flaveola, _var._
_Yellow-bellied Nectarinia._
GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 117.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
_N. nigricans, infra flava; mento, superciliis rectriciumque trium exteriarum apicibus, albis; fascia uropygiali olivacea._
Blackish brown; beneath yellow; chin, eyebrows, and tips of the three outer tail-feathers white; band on the rump olive.
Certhia flaveola. _Gmelin_, 479. _Lath. Ind. Orn._ _v._ 1. _p._ 297.
_Gen. Zool._ _v._ 8. _p._ 248. _Turton_, _p._ 297.
Certhia, _No._ 33. _Brisson. Orn._ _v._ 6. _App._ _p._ 117. _Syn._ 2.
_p._ 19.
Black and yellow Creeper. _Edwards_, _pl._ 122. _pl._ 362. _Lath. Syn._ _v._ 2. _p._ 737. _Gen. Zool._ _v._ 8. _p._ 248. _Turton._ _p._ 297.
Le Guit-Guit Sucrier. _Vieill. Ois. Dor. Certh._ _pl._ 51. _p._ 102.
This pretty little bird, under different varieties of plumage, appears to be scattered over the greatest part of tropical America, and is one of the most common of its tribe. The best, and indeed the only detailed account of its economy, is given by M. Vieillot; who remarks, that its nest is suspended on the tops of those tall climbing plants, which, in those countries, form a matting over the most lofty trees: the entrance to the nest is at the bottom; the interior is divided into two compartments, in one of which only the young are contained. It feeds both on small insects, and the nectar of flowers. All the above synonyms refer to the different varieties authors have enumerated of this species. Most of these have a white spot at the base of the exterior quills; others vary in having the throat entirely black; and some again have a yellow rump; but none of these agree with the variety here figured, which I believe came from Trinidad.
Probably a more perfect knowledge of these supposed varieties will show they contain two or three distinct species.
Notwithstanding the shortness of the bill, this is a decided _Nectarinia_, according to a natural, but not an artificial arrangement. It forms, in some degree, a pa.s.sage from the shining coloured _Nectariniae_ of America, to the short-billed _Melliphagae_ of the southern hemisphere. On a future occasion I shall offer more detailed observations on the genus _Dicaeum_ of Cuvier.