PTEROGLOSSUS INSCRIPTUS, Swainson.

Lettered Aracari.

Specrric CHARACTER.

Mas. Pter. rostro flavo, negro serrato; culmine, apice, fasciaque basali nigris: olwvaceo-
viridis, subtis citrinus ; capite colloque atris ; crisso coccineo.

Foem. Capite colloque brunneis.

Male. Bill yellow, with a basal band of black and a black culmen and tip; the serrations
being also marked by irregular barbs of black; the bare space round the eye and tarsus
greenish brown ; head and throat glossy black; wings, back, and tail olive green ; rump
scarlet ; under surface lemon yellow.

Female. Resembles the male with the usual difference of brown for black.

Total length, 12 to 13 inches; beak, 11; wing, 4; tail, 5; tarsus, 14.

Pteroglossus inscriptus. Swains., Zool. Ilust., vol. 2. pl. 90. Wagler, Syst. Avium.

For fine examples of this interesting bird I am under obligations to Lord Stanley, to whose liberality I have
frequently been indebted for the loan of specimens from his rich and valuable Museum. Independently of the
fine pair in this collection, I have seen a female at Edinburgh: these, with the original example in the
possession of W. Swainson, Esq., are, as far as I have been able to learn, the only specimens in England.
It appears to be a bird of the greatest rarity, and only to be found in the remote and untrodden parts of the
country destined by nature for its abode; and which, according to the best information I can collect, is
Guiana, the low and swampy districts of which, abounding in luxuriant palms, &c., afford it a retreat, from
which there will doubtless be yet obtained many ornithological productions at present unknown.

The Lettered Aragari takes its specific character from the peculiar markings of the mandibles, which in
some measure resemble Hebrew characters, and these, with its diminutive size, distinguish it from every
other species.
Inhabits Guiana.

   
 
   
  
   
  
   
   
    
   

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