PTEROGLOSSUS INSCRIPTUS, Swains.

Lettered Aracari.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Mas.—Pter. rostro stramineo, nigro serrato ; culmine, apice, fascidque basali nigris ; capite

colloque atris ; crisso coccineo.
Foem.—Gula brunnea.

Male.— Head, neck and throat glossy black ; back, wings and tail dark olive-green; rump
blood-red ; under surface lemon-yellow; thighs externally olive-green, internally pale
brown; bill straw-yellow, with a basal band of black and a black culmen and tip, the
serrations also marked by irregular bands of black; raised ridge at the base of the bill
straw-yellow; irides dark carmine; orbits very gaily coloured, the different colours
separated by a fold in the skin; the portion above and before the eye light cobalt-blue ;
below the eye violet-grey, behind which is a triangular mark of yellowish carmine ; tars!
dark green.

Total length, 13 inches; bell, 3; wing, 43; tail, 52; tarse, 14.
Female.—Similar to the male, except that the throat is dark chocolate-brown instead of black.

Pteroglossus inscriptus, Swains. Zool. Il., vol. ii. pl. 90—Wagl. Syst. Av., Pteroglossus, sp. 5.
—Gould’s Mon. of Rampb., pl. 23.—Ib. Sturm’s Edit., pl. .—Bonap. Consp.
Gen. Av., p. 94, Pteroglossus, sp. 13.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 175, Pteroglossus,
sp. 5.—Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. 11. p. 404, Pteroglossus, sp. 12.

scriptus, Lemm. Man. d’Orn., tom. 1. p. Ixxvi.

 

Tue great forests clothing the low alluvial land of South America to the north of the Equator, through
which flows the majestic Amazon, constitute the natural habitat of this elegant little species. Hitherto it
has been supposed that it was confined to the remote parts of Guiana and Cayenne; but that it enjoys a
ge is proved by the circumstance of Mr. John Natterer having found it in the woods on

in the vicinity of Cidade de Mattagrosso (formerly called Villabella), in the 15th degree
ba, where the Madeira flows into the Amazon, and near Para, which lies between
It is from this latter locality that the specimens from which

very extensive ran
the River Guapore,
of south latitude, near Bor
the first and second degrees of south latitude.
my figures were taken were sent by Mr. Wallace.

oe Plate will at once indicate to the reader why this bird has been named

A glance at the accompanying
he bill offer a considerable resemblance to Hebrew cha-

mnscriptus, as it will be seen that the markings of t
racters, which circumstance has obtained for it the trivial name of the Lettered Aracari. We find it
= : . . n ae

Edition of this Monograph, on the authority of Mr. Natterer, that it lives in families,

stated in Sturm’s ilie
yanying Plate, Bilbergia iridifola,

and feeds principally on berries. The beautiful plant figured in the accom]

was copied from a drawing made by Miss Hamilton Smith, whose talents as an artist are only equalled by

her many other acquirements and amiable disposition.

The colouring of the orbits of this bird is very varied and beauti
Irawing given to me by Mr. John Natterer, a sufficient guarantee for its accu-
racy. The female may be distinguished from the male by the brown, instead of black colouring of her
throat ; in other respects the sexes are very similar. As is the case with other species, the bills of
the letter-like markings varying in form, and the black mark at

ful, and is carefully represented on the

accompanying Plate, from a ¢

individuals differ somewhat in appearance ;
mandible being more extensive in some than in others: the Messrs. Sturm have

the base of the lower .
h we learn that in the youthful state the letter-like markings are very

figured an immature bird, from whic
faintly indicated, and the black mark at the b
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

ase of the lower mandible is much smaller than in the adult.